Growing up I was not aware of the art world and you could say that my main influences were Rolf Harris and Tony Hart of Vision On. | "Growing up I was not aware of the art world and you could say that my main influences were Rolf Harris and Tony Hart" | |
My first realization that you could actually make a living doing arty things was during my University years. I spent a weekend at a girlfriend's parents' place in Northumberland and her father was a potter (Alistair Hardy). It blew my mind that you could spend your working day doing something enjoyable and just wander in at meal times and see the family. This was not how the world should work - where was the pain, the boredom? It would be too simple to say I resolved there and then to become a potter but it did happen eventually. After University and a bad degree in Chemical Engineering I set up in a shed at my parents' place and taught myself to pot. I only last two years though and in hindsight failed due to lapsing into an “artist’s black period”. Five years down the line, after plenty of pain and boredom in the vegetable oil industry, I escaped with my wife and first child to Ayrshire. This time we got to grips with my tendency to swing emotionally and I gradually established a modest income as a potter. During the next three years I started to paint. Pottery had always been a way of getting the lifestyle and painting was the deep-rooted want. A delightful set of circumstances led us to buying the Grosmont Gallery near Whitby and running it for 7 years. Here I gradually let go of ceramics and became a fully fledged painter. Initially I concentrated on watercolours but eventually settled on oil paintings using a palette knife. Looking at my work now I think it’s obvious to me that it’s all just been about escape and freedom to breath. I find it very difficult to talk about my actual paintings, please judge them for yourself. Chris Geall | 
