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Mike was born in Manchester in 1962 and he explains
here some of his early experiences that influence his artwork today.
‘My upbringing is full of treasured memories that inspire my work
– selling my mum’s best coat to the rag and bone man for
a few balloons, holidaying at Blackpool and Rhyl, Donkey rides, Punch
and Judy, sand in my butties and my mum on Prize Bingo always brings
a smile to my face. This is naturally what I choose to paint. I love
to share the humour of life in my work, if I paint a street scene with
kids playing football, I believe the painting should have all the elements
of the moment, even the old lady telling us to ‘go and play round
your own end’, dogs getting amorous with each other and the ‘dimp
picker’ collecting fag ends from the pavements. The inclusion
of these wonderful memories makes my paintings much more interesting.
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Mike now lives in Somerset, where local beaches bring extra inspiration
to his paintings, living near the coast gives him the opportunity to
collect reference for his new paintings. As Mike says, ‘I love
to people watch, witnessing holiday romancers, beach bums, screaming
kids high on candy floss and day trippers trying to enjoy their day
whilst over-ladden with buckets and spades, carrier bags full of butties,
flasks of tea and sand sodden towels, queuing for the ‘charrabang’
to go home…deep joy.
‘It has always been my dream to
be able to earn a living as an artist and I feel so lucky to have my
hobby as a job.’
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