About me

I have been painting for about 13 years; self-taught and still learning. My interest in art started when I was doing an arts foundation course with the Open University in the late 1970s. Soon after that, I attended Essex University as a mature student between 1980-83, and graduated with an honours degree in Art History & Theory. That wonderful time at the University of Essex gave me the opportunity to learn something about the ‘Story of Art’.

I have tried many different painting styles, and explored many different subjects. I use mainly acrylic media to express my work, because the quick drying time of acrylic paint, and the things you can add to it, make it a perfect medium. Some recent work under ‘Rustic Gallery‘ shows paintings of our natural surroundings. I have tried to instil a sense of mystery in some. There are no people in the paintings because I want the viewer to be that human presence, and possibly round the corner with me. My later work under ‘Spots of Time‘ shows my future direction in painting. It has always intrigued me why some artists make a journey from the figurative to a more abstract style. It rarely happens the other way around. I think fundamentally it is about our feelings, and that search to find a ‘spot of time‘ which is important to us. Some of my abstract paintings will  retain some figurative elements, but others will stay pure. I do hope you enjoy some of my paintings, and please feel free to contact me if you wish. My email address is paulgoughartist@gmail.com

Spots of Time

There are in our existence spots of time,
That with distinct pre-eminence retain
A renovating virtue, whence, depressed
By false opinion and contentious thought,
Or aught of heavier or more deadly weight,
In trivial occupations, and the round
Of ordinary intercourse, our minds
Are nourished and invisibly repaired;
A virtue, by which pleasure is enhanced,
That penetrates, enables us to mount,
When high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen

– William Wordsworth “The Prelude XII” [Lines 208-218]

Contact

Please contact me on paulgoughartist@gmail.com