A new exhibition titled Life form by Leitrim based artist Paul Stockwell is on view from 14th August 2024 on ARTWALL . Paul lives in a quiet part of North Leitrim, surrounded by meadow and woodland which nurture a variety of wild life; animal, vegetable, fungal and algal. The paintings in this series are inspired by his local environment. Having studied fine art at Bristol Polytechnic and was awarded a degree in painting at Winchester School of Art. Paul spent a decade working as a painting technician for a degree course at Winchester School of Art.. The artist then relocated to Leicestershire as a painting technical tutor at Loughborough University School of Art and a visiting tutor at Nottingham University School of the Arts. In 2020 he took early retirement and relocated with his wife Elspeth to County Leitrim.

Within this collection a variety of life forms are represented such as ‘Lichen’ depicts a deep blue lichen growing in his garden. ‘Bark’ represents his reworking of tree bark in his woodland. ‘Wing’ is an abstraction of butterfly wing movement and his painting ‘Tweet’ is Paul’s interpretation of local birdsong. Stockwell often combines an impasto medium with oil paint. In this series, a cold beeswax paste is mixed with his paints to give his paint extra body and thickness. Paul has opted to use pre-creased canvas to achieve a more natural looking surface on which to paint as there are very few smooth surfaces to be found in nature..

Paul’s university career gave him a long experience of working with many students at Foundation, Graduate and Post Graduate levels, providing technical teaching support and teaching a wide variety of creative processes within the context of painting; for example, production of handmade paints, mediums and primers, colour mixing and making painting supports. Since moving to Ireland, Paul has more time in the studio and has chosen to paint in a way that is less impactful on the environment. He uses oil paints and specific oil paint mediums which are environmentally friendly and makes his own canvas stretchers, preparing them in a traditional way.

This exhibition continues on ARTWALL until September 19th. We hope you’ll support this Leitrim artist by visiting this show with friends and family. Should you wish to invest in any our Irish artwork we’re happy to take deposits, which may be paid off over a number of weeks to spread the cost.