WELCOME TO THE ROYAL OAK - AND THE ROYAL SHED.
Visitors to my Artweeks 2022 Exhibition will find me in my garden shed industriously working on one major painting. Or possibly dozing in a corner waiting for inspiration to strike. There will be two or three other paintings and several prints and drawings on view. The wonder of it all will not detain you long. Architecturally speaking, the Shed could be said to be compact. In fact, with three or more art lovers inside, it could truly be said to be totally packed. But size isn’t everything - although in this case it might be. Whatever, you are most welcome. Tally ho for Artweeks. I was recently interviewed by a media hot shot who fired machine gun questions at me. What is your medium? Oils, acrylics, watercolour, graphite. What is your style? Representational. Size of work? From A4 to whatever will fit under my arm and go in my car. Size of exhibition? Three paintings: The Watlington Mark, The Breaking Wave, West Meadow and sundry giclée prints . Theme? Still life, one landscape, one seascape. Colours? Natural. What inspires you? The work of other artists. What do you love about your work? Listening to music as I paint.
Childhood? Learning, aged five, from my Uncle Jack to paint what I still think of as an Uncle-Jack-Scape. Travel? Have travelled widely in an ersatz fashion – mainly cruising. How long have you lived in Oxfordshire? 40+ years. Where do you work.? Garden shed. Describe your passion. Depiction. Phew!
JAMES KELSO - LONDON, CHELSEA, CHRISTMAS COMMON, WATLINGTON
I was born in London, England, 1934. Educated Sloane School, Chelsea. I’m a self-taught painter. Similar in that respect to Leonardo da Vinci - we were both self-taught, but he had a better teacher. I work with acrylics, oils, watercolour and graphite on board and paper. I’ve exhibited in galleries throughout Britain and in America. I regularly submit, and am irregularly shown at The Royal Academy, as well as other London venues including The Royal Society of British Artists - The Mall Galleries - The Royal Festival Hall, and The London Stock Exchange. Paintings are in private collections in America, Australia, Britain, France, and Sweden. Prints have been sold worldwide. My influences: all the big names, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Wyeth, Charles Schultz, the usual high flyers. I grew up during the abstract art explosion. I fought hard to resist it. My interest in industrial architecture was accidental, or incidental. I liked to paint outdoors. The best places to do so were the wastelands of derelict factories, and canal banks, river sides, and railway sidings, where all you could see was industrial architecture. When I moved to Oxfordshire in 1975 things became more bucolic, slightly.