A handmade cottage: An interview with artist Brian Seymour

I love surrounding myself with beautiful scenes and images that move me in some way. I don't pretend to know much about art, but I don't think you need to know anything in order to love, and appreciate something. Today I have a super special guest to share with you. His name is Brian Seymour (Uncle Titch to me) - and he's an artist. He is my uncle, and the man responsible for our beautiful 'wedding tree' (which you can view below). Today I'd like to share his work with you, some of which I'm lucky enough to own myself.

Some of Brian’s works are part of private collections in the UK, Europe, South Africa, and also that of HRH the Princess Royal. He can often be found exhibiting (his work, not himself) up and down the country, when he's not holed up on a mountain top in search of inspiration. He has recently been on exhibition in the Darryl Nantais Gallery in Cambridge - so hubby and I went to see it for ourselves. Seeing his painting up-close and personal was simply amazing and these photos really don't do him justice. With a keen personal interest in knowing the answers, I asked him the following questions...

Q&A with Brian Seymour

Q. Uncle Titch, how did you discover you had a passion for painting?

A. I had developed a natural talent for drawing at school - the passion came later when I started to

use different mediums.

Q. You grew up in a working class family and never had the chance to study.
So how did you learn to paint?

A. There was actually an art teacher at school who gave me a lot of encouragement, but essentially I just taught myself ... with a lot of trial and error. A lot went in the bin in those days!

Q. Back in the day, art was reserved for the higher classes. Do you find some people are still intimidated by the art world?

A. Yes I do sometimes, but art is everywhere now and thanks to the internet it's easily accessible to everyone.

Q. Your work is often inspired by nature.
What is it about nature that makes you want to capture what you see?

A. Well things like light and shadow play a big part in my paintings, and how I'm feeling at the time also determines how I might approach a painting.

Q. Creatives can be quite changeable about their work. Is this the case with you?

A. Yes all the time! I'll paint something one day and then completely change it the next.

Q. If I wanted to learn to paint where would you suggest I start?

A. I would suggest joining something like a local art group. You can learn a lot from people with the same interests and actually, painting together is much less intimidating.

Q. Would you ever consider teaching classes, and if so can I come?? : )

A. l have thought about it, and have in the past been asked to do a demo for a local art group but I'm not too comfortable talking in front of a group. (Ah bless 'im)

Q. What work to date are you most proud of and why?

A. The new work on box canvas ... I think they're very contemporary looking
and I really enjoy the process of painting them. (see picture below)

Q. Are there any places you'd love to travel to and capture?

A. Yes, somewhere like Venice. I'd like to explore and capture many more city scenes.

If you are interested in seeing more of Brian's work, he can be seen exhibiting up and down the country, and his work is currently on show at the Darryl Nantais gallery in Cambridge.

More paintings can also be found, and purchased through their website here.

Brian accepts work to commission, and mounts and frames all of his paintings.

JM x