Artist of the Month - David Brooke
Posted 16 October 2023
Our artist for the month for October is Dorset Visual Arts' member David Brooke. David has an exhibition, Mysterious Adventures, of his work in the Rotunda Gallery of Lyme Regis Museum which runs until Sunday 26th November 2023. He also has a painting selected for the Thelma Hulbert Gallery Open Exhibition in Honiton which is on until Saturday 28th October and has two paintings selected for the South West Academy Open Exhibition at Kennaway House.
Here's some more information about David's work: David Brooke’s paintings create a sense of mystery. In his paintings people embark on unexpected adventures such as riding on the back of a sea monster, or else they struggle through the undergrowth of a dark forest. The paintings themselves are meticulously built up in many layers of acrylic paint, to create texture and detail. The style has a look of medieval book illuminations but with a contemporary twist.
Astride a Sea Monster - David Brooke
His paintings include highly stylised figures in action. Large hands and feet draw attention to whatever it is they’re doing, and what they’re connecting to beyond themselves. David’s aim is to create a sense of mystery; there clearly is a narrative in these paintings, but it is left to the viewer to decide the nature of that narrative.
David says “The idea of mystery for it’s own sake appeals to me. It seems to me that we always want to know the answers to everything. But I believe it is better just to experience the beauty of the mysterious world. To ask lots of questions, but not to be to worried about knowing if there are any answers. Just enjoy the mysterious.”
David attended the Art Foundation Course at Yeovil School of Art and a BA Graphic Design Course at Hull College of Art, where he studied illustration. David is a Past President of the Society of Graphic Fine Art, he is also an Academician of the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts, and a long term member of the Bath Society of Artists, and the National Acrylic Painters' Association. David moved from Somerset to Bridport in 2004 and currently works as a full time artist in a studio on St Michael's Trading Estate which he shares with his partner Caroline Ireland.
Cliff Faces - David Brooke
How does working/living in Dorset influence your artistic practice?
"Since moving to Bridport the coastline appears in the background of many pictures, and 'sea spirits' and fossils abound. While paintings which feature the cliffs and coastline and coast path are not based on any particular location, they capture the 'essence' of the Dorset landscapes that have inspired me. It's a strange thing that Dorset, as a County, seems to lack its own myths and legends specific to the features of the landscape so I have been inventing a few of my own: figures and faces forming the stone cliffs, for example."
You can find out more about David Brooke's work on his Facebook and his Dorset Visual Art's profile.