John Davies: Two Aspects of an Artist
This is the first exhibition of my own work and anyone reading this might think that the 'two aspects' cited in the title are, on the one side 'John Davies the gallery' and, on the other side 'John Davies as artist' which might be a surprise to some. In fact, the two aspects refer to two contrasting sides of my practice as an artist, painting the landscape and, much more recently, creating abstract compositions.
I set out to be an artist in the early 1970's. Art had been my main interest at both preparatory school in Solihull and at Oundle School in Northamptonshire. I still have certificates from the Royal Drawing Society for Passes in 1954, '57, '58, and Passes with Honours for 1956 and 1959. I attended Birmingham Art School, Margaret Street, for a short spell studying Technical Illustration in 1964, my attendance unfortunately being terminated by a serious car accident as a passenger. But what I learned in that short space of time, principally 'vanishing point' and 'horizon line', became a valuable asset. Also, I spent a great deal of time viewing historic paintings at Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, and was greatly inspired by the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and the landscapes of David Cox.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's I shared a house on Packington Park with four contemporaries and was fortunate enough to have a studio there, with sufficient space to develop my watercolour technique. From that address I exhibited and sold works at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and with the New English Art Club. As a result, I was commissioned by Christina Foyle to create a book-jacket for one of her publications.
By means of an inheritance and an insurance pay-out for injuries received in my accident, I purchased a cottage with an attached barn in Little Compton, Cotswolds in 1972. I completed renovations and created a studio in 1974 and submitted my first painting from that address to the Royal Academy in the spring of 1975. It was a huge boost to my confidence when Surveying the Woodshed, Little Compton (facing page) was selected for the RA Summer Exhibition of that year, made the hanging and was sold. This was followed by my painting At the Back of Little Compton (page 5) in 1976, which was also selected by the RA, but not hung.
From the early 1970's I had been buying and selling 19th and early 20th Century paintings to subsidise my developing art practice, with the intention of exhibiting these and developing a broader market for art sales. Consequently I opened a one-roomed gallery in the old barber's shop in Church Street, Stow-on-the-Wold in May 1977.
This proved successful, and I expanded the gallery on four occasions over the next 25-30 years. However, somewhat sadly, the fascination of the art dealing world the availability of wonderful paintings, the characters within the trade, the travel, the exciting process of presenting work, the delight of restoration and framing, the staging of exhibitions - all brought my own art practice to a halt.
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This is the first exhibition of my own work and anyone reading this might think that the 'two aspects' cited in the title are, on the one side 'John Davies the gallery' and, on the other side 'John Davies as artist' which might be a surprise to some. In fact, the two aspects refer to two contrasting sides of my practice as an artist, painting the landscape and, much more recently, creating abstract compositions.
I set out to be an artist in the early 1970's. Art had been my main interest at both preparatory school in Solihull and at Oundle School in Northamptonshire. I still have certificates from the Royal Drawing Society for Passes in 1954, '57, '58, and Passes with Honours for 1956 and 1959. I attended Birmingham Art School, Margaret Street, for a short spell studying Technical Illustration in 1964, my attendance unfortunately being terminated by a serious car accident as a passenger. But what I learned in that short space of time, principally 'vanishing point' and 'horizon line', became a valuable asset. Also, I spent a great deal of time viewing historic paintings at Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, and was greatly inspired by the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and the landscapes of David Cox.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's I shared a house on Packington Park with four contemporaries and was fortunate enough to have a studio there, with sufficient space to develop my watercolour technique. From that address I exhibited and sold works at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and with the New English Art Club. As a result, I was commissioned by Christina Foyle to create a book-jacket for one of her publications.
By means of an inheritance and an insurance pay-out for injuries received in my accident, I purchased a cottage with an attached barn in Little Compton, Cotswolds in 1972. I completed renovations and created a studio in 1974 and submitted my first painting from that address to the Royal Academy in the spring of 1975. It was a huge boost to my confidence when Surveying the Woodshed, Little Compton (facing page) was selected for the RA Summer Exhibition of that year, made the hanging and was sold. This was followed by my painting At the Back of Little Compton (page 5) in 1976, which was also selected by the RA, but not hung.
From the early 1970's I had been buying and selling 19th and early 20th Century paintings to subsidise my developing art practice, with the intention of exhibiting these and developing a broader market for art sales. Consequently I opened a one-roomed gallery in the old barber's shop in Church Street, Stow-on-the-Wold in May 1977.
This proved successful, and I expanded the gallery on four occasions over the next 25-30 years. However, somewhat sadly, the fascination of the art dealing world the availability of wonderful paintings, the characters within the trade, the travel, the exciting process of presenting work, the delight of restoration and framing, the staging of exhibitions - all brought my own art practice to a halt.
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