ARTIST OF THE WEEK MARTIN BUSH

 

 

What was your route to becoming an artist?

 

My early interests were more design influenced and my degree being a BA(Hons) in Furniture design.

While pursuing this avenue my other love was to paint and in my mid 20’s I set up my own company doing various art projects within the restaurant/pub industry in doing menu designs, art and colour schemes on walls, murals and chalkboard art and this was a great time to experiment and have the freedom to create.

In 1997 I decided to have a break after 10 years of great success and went travelling, I always loved to travel. This time I went for 9 months and mostly spending my time in Thailand which has become a large part of my life ever since and while out there I did several paintings which were my first real attempts to paint a work of art. On my return I knew that this was where I should focus my future and I set up my first studio in Wales and then soon after had my first gallery.

Many of your works have a strong Thai influence.  When did this culture first start to influence your work and what is it about this country that inspires you?

 

I have visited and absorbed this wonderful Country and its culture for the past 20 years and my more recent works has been inspired by the Thai culture and their temples, the use of gold leaf with vibrant colours has introduced a new language within my painting and once I discovered this connection I felt I had found what I was looking for all these years. As I said it was like finding a new language within my work and has been a joy to paint this new work.

Can you tell us a bit about your work ‘ Jewel Golden’?

Jewel Golden is one of my crescendo moments when creating this body of work. With Thai symbolism within and an hidden messages of colour and texture I found everything I was looking for in this piece.

Many of your works are painted in acrylic what are the benefits of working in this medium?

Acrylic works for me as it gives me the colour I want as well as easily blends in on the canvas. I also mix in oils and gold leaf as I work on the painting which gives me other textures and visual moments that just using one medium wouldn’t achieve.

What do you enjoy about being an artist?

The freedom to create and to have that visual reference to my life’s journey on canvas as well as giving others  joy.

Your work is abstract in its style.   Why did you choose to work as an abstract artist rather than making more representational works?

Abstract has always been my bag. It’s where we can express emotion without having reference to a visual world. It’s pure expression from the persons soul.

How do you develop your ideas?

I usually work on a new series about every 18 months but which is an organic flow from the last series. One painting leads into another so to me it is not so much about the one piece it is more about the whole body of work as a whole.

Can you describe a typical day in your studio?

As I run my own gallery which is also my studio one runs into the other. Painting happens maybe for half of my time the rest working on all that stuff you need to do to get noticed (PR, Social Media etc) The day always starts with a coffee, sit down and that “other stuff” first, then into the afternoon and if I am working on new work the paints will be ordered and tools laid and then sometime spent pondering and like meditation clearing the mind while looking at previous work and marks to inspire the next piece.

Once I start it is a case of no stopping until the painting is complete. Usually to my choice music of the moment I do feel like I am in a little bubble or trance and my whole spirit and inner mind working in tandem until I see the painting come to its climax which is just a great moment and feeling.

Once complete I trot off home and the excitement builds to the morning and my return to see yesterday’s creation. If we consider it to be a winner I will then be photographing it to get it out there and the PR champagne starts again.

What do you want people’s response to be to your work?

Love it enough to buy it!

Can you describe the artists who have influenced and inspired your work and why?

I do have some favorite’s but would say I am not using their work to inspire more to be  inspired by their notoriety and what it is to live and succeed as an artist.

M A R T I N  B U S H  G A L L E R Y – S T U D I O,
Royal William Yard, Plymouth UK PL1 3RP

TEL 07703 231150

Martin Bush Art  SHOP

WEB                 www.martinbush.co.uk
FACEBOOK      http://www.facebook.com/MartinBushFineArt

TWITTER           @marttheart