Chris Abbott

This work was inspired by the record ‘Carnival for marriage’ which I found while looking for a sleeve for this exhibition. It instantly struck a chord about my own marriage and subsequent breakdown. I was struck by the shattering of the whole carnival into broken dreams as I struggled to keep the relationship together while at the same time watching everything disintegrate. The red wire represents the internal bleeding while at the same time maintaining a smiling facade and hiding the pain, the sleeve is old and grubby, a reflection of how I felt at the time.
I was a late starter at most things. I got a B.A. (Hons) Degree and a Social Work qualification at the age of 53 and did not start painting until I was aged 60. The last 3 years I have had some excellent tuition from a number of local artists. Notably Rosemary Wells, Matthew Swain and Linda Baistow through the ‘Workers Educational Association’
Art has given me a fantastic lease of life and a new way of expressing thoughts, feeling, emotion and ideas that are both challenging and important to me, perhaps my way of seeing things is not so strange after all.
In the last 12 months I have had work accepted at a number of exhibitions including:
Leicester Open Art Exhibition
Doncaster Open Art Exhibition
‘Patchings Farm’ Summer exhibition
E.A.C. Art Awards, The Mall Gallery London.
I have also sold a number of paintings, much to my surprise. I work in watercolours, acrylic, pencil, pastels and mixed media.
Artists that have influenced my development are Kurt Jackson, William Selby and Patrick Caulfield, but everyday I discover new artists and new styles that really inspire me to view things in a different light. It is this continuing discovery that makes painting, art and my life so exciting and challenging.