I make a point of looking for the beauty in the every day.

All too often we simply walk straight past and don’t notice the ordinary things.
And I especially love shapes.

I tend to fill the canvas with shapes, spaces and colour, not necessarily including all of the subject within the frame, but rather, enjoying the challenge of the composition.

Painting and drawing the animal - including the human - shape and form is my first love.

Animals and the natural world have always played a large part in my life, from an unconventional childhood on a Pembrokeshire farm in the sixties to the present day. On walks along the country lanes and tracks where I now live not far from where I grew up, past beasts in the fields, I watch, as they pause in their grazing, lifting their heads, to watch me.

I try to capture the subtle tensions within these animals – an awkward stretch of a leg, angle of a neck, tilt of a head, or the watchful eye that reminds us that these are sentient creatures. 

 

My work is ever evolving as I try out different ideas, though I never stray far from attempting to capture, and appreciating always, the living form.
I keep away from the sentimental.

Creating art reveals a part of me that is otherwise hidden; it shows how I see and interpret things that I can't express in any other way.

I work mainly with oil paints on canvas, layering colour to build up depth.

I was brought up in a creative family. My father John Seymour was a writer and broadcaster, my mother Sally Seymour a book illustrator and potter, and her father Frank Medworth was principle of Sydney Art School in Australia from 1938 and 1947.

My mother encouraged me to draw as soon as I was able to hold a pencil, though when I left home I travelled other paths and it was much later on in life that I took an interest in art again.

Twelve years ago while living in Australia I had the opportunity to complete a diploma in Visual Art. There I learnt amongst other things the value of

observational and life drawing, which has since formed a cornerstone of my work.

I am influenced by the distinct contemporary style that has developed over there, as well as our long history of depicting animals here in the UK and around the world - throughout time.

Other influences include the spontaneity of the Impressionists, the strong bold colours of the Expressionists, work by Richard Diebenkorn, Ben Nicholson, John Coburn and Paula Rego amongst many others as well as my upbringing, family and life experiences to now.

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My work can be seen at West Wales Art Gallery.