About Ben
Spain…
Back in 1998, after 3 post-university years in London training to be a photographer, I jumped on a Eurostar train to Paris, changed for the overnight train to Madrid, and started an exciting new life in a country I knew almost nothing about.
The plan was to spend just one month in Madrid to do a CELTA teacher-training course, then move to the sea. Over 25 years later, I’m still in Madrid.
I’ve travelled constantly in Spain over this time, in the last two decades taking up first drawing and sketching, then more recently watercolour and oil painting, to capture the incredibly varied and beautiful landscapes of Spain.
Beyond Madrid, I spend large amounts of time in the Spanish Pyrenees, in the Huesca region, near Jaca, which have become a huge source of artistic inspiration.
Plein air painting…
As often as possible, I paint plein air, outdoors, capturing the beauty right in front of my eyes, something that has become a passion. I aim to finish these works in the field, or make small adjustments back in the studio.
If you are a plein air painter travelling to Madrid or the Pyrenees, let me know and perhaps we can get together to paint.
Grandmaternal Influences…
My grandmothers were both painters, and I particularly remember my maternal grandmother’s studio, always full of half-used tubes of Windsor and Newton watercolour.
Later we moved into her house, where many of her, and her artist-friends’ pictures remained on the walls. These images had a profound effect on me over the years of my childhood, seeing figures and landscapes so beautifully drawn and painted in line, wash, and fine colours.
