A Conversation at Breakfast

A brief moment where the morning light enters through the only window, capturing the unnamed man, haloed by his own greying hair. Deep in thought, his plate finished, he is listening to his, unseen, friends conversation. The man is in stark, almost ethereal contrast to the rest of the room, held in darkness.

This currently hangs on my wall and even though I painted it, items appear and reappear each time I pass by. As your eyes adjust, you pick out the details; the brick wall (pictured), the wine in the racks, the light reflecting on the chair, the cake stand and on the table various menus, bottles and jars create a barrier between you and him. Behind him a silhouetted family wait to be seated at the counter.

This seems to be developing into an unintended series of coffee-shop paintings. Ever a people watcher, painting people sat in the mid-morning light, I'm interested by the sense of community that exists in each. The paintings are usually taken from photos that I've asked for, sat for, or taken a quick sneaky snap of.

Message me if you would like to see more images or a video.

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Hi, I’m James - Thanks for stopping by! Since I was a kid, whenever I could avoid life’s less entertaining pursuits (i.e., school and ‘proper jobs’) I have been found in garages/gardens/studios, often in a mist of solvents, surrounded by oil paints and in front of a canvas. I mainly paint in oils, and a few inks from time to time. I’ll paint and sketch anything and everything that interests me; you should therefore only see things that I’ve enjoyed painting or that I’ve felt an emotional connection to…and hopefully that comes across. The paintings, from small studies and portraits to large landscapes, will be loose, have texture and are borne of a particular emotion. They will be reminiscent of a specific moment in time and driven by a desire to capture movement and light.

I have presented pieces at a number of awards and exhibitions across WA including the Perth Royal Art Prize, City of Busselton Art Award, Cossack Art Awards and Vasse Art Awards. I have also sold my paintings across Australia. Some recurring themes are mentioned below:

People Together : I try to capture places where people come together as a community. This might be the group of friends meeting over breakfast, father and son enjoying each other’s company or the solitary person caught in reflection and oblivious to their surrounds. Coffee shops seem to have developed into an unintended series for this reason (or more likely as I spend too much time in them) For me though they present captivating scenes, often blanketed by the mid-morning light.

Just People : Ever the people watcher, my paintings are usually taken from photos that I've asked for, sat for, or taken a quick sneaky snap of. Whilst portrait painting can at times can drive me to distraction, I find it to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of being a painter. Whether it is for a commission or just for the sake of painting, I am fascinated by people and by expressive faces that hold the subject’s character; I believe that trying to capture this is perhaps the biggest challenge for an artist.

Landscape Home : I was born in Bolton, England; a couple of train stops from where LS Lowry lived. This may help you to picture the rainy, grey skies and the red brick mills that form the backdrop to a typically northern town. There are fewer mills now, but the skies are pretty much the same. We traded the greys of England’s Northwest for the brilliant blues of Western Australia back in 2011. I feel relentlessly spoiled by Australia’s radiant light and often try to capture this in my work. I am currently drawn to landscapes of regional WA, particularly the South West. Grassy gardens and the odd orange-dirt driveway on streets lined with trees and utility poles. There is an underlying feeling to these places, a warm contentedness and an appetite for a slower pace of life …perhaps a bit like me.

If you’d like more info or photos of any particular work, to discuss opportunities for commissions/murals, just drop me a message. 0450 696128 Otherwise, hit my Instagram @jameswildart for WIP and general arty ramblings, including photos of Snoop (every painter needs a painter’s dog)...