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Artists
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l l u s t r a t o r s
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To the rolling
fields of the Yorkshire Dales for the work of 35 year-old painter Emerson
Mayes.
Despite being represented by a number of London galleries, Mayes continues
to work within a five-mile radius of his Nidderdale home, such is his
love for the area in which he was born and bred.
'It's about finding that emotional response, not just the physical act,'
he explains. 'It's walking that very thin line between representing
what is there and representing it in a painterly way.'
It is this balance that he achieves that makes his work worth a thousand
photographs and also an inspiration to us all.
'If you don't
appreciate landscape painting, hopefully you will appreciate how I'v
actually put the paint down and the joy I get from that alone!'
Steve Pill (Deputy-Editor) October 2007
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Born
in Harrogate and trained at Leeds Metropolitan University, 35 year old
Emerson Mayes has made a growing reputation for himself over the last
decade or so with his freshly coloured and immensely painterly approach
to landscape. Working for the most part in front of the image (with
some finishing touches added later in the studio), these studies of
moorland hills and rivers are full of an unfussy truthfulness of feeling.
Nicholas Usherwood
reviewing Maclean Fine Art solo show in 2007
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YORKSHIRE
POST
The Artist at work Series.
HIS work is his art and he paints
because he loves it - but it also helps that people like to spend money
on it. Emerson Mayes has experienced that rarest of things: success
both critical and commercial since beginning his career as an artist.
Since the 32-year-old graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University in
1994 with a BA Hons in Graphic Arts, he has enjoyed a growing reputation
for a fresh, honest and uncontrived approach to his work.
"I have been fortunate that the work I paint seems to sell,"
says Mayes, who takes an uncomplicated attitude to most things, not
just the creation of his work. "I would never change the way I
paint for commercial reasons; when I am painting I forget about that
kind of thing and just paint in the hope of creating decent work. I
paint and leave it up to the public to decide if they like it."
The Yorkshireman is often asked why he does not travel to places like
France and Italy to paint his landscapes, but he is happiest at home.
Almost all of his work is grounded in his home county.
"I loveNidderdale plus places like Upper and Lower Wharfedale,
I love the east coast, I don't really see the need to travel further
afield. The important thing to me when I am painting a landscape is
that I feel an emotional connection with it and Yorkshire is a place
to which I have an emotional connection."
Winning the Young Artist of the Year Award in 1995 - something he says
was "obviously a help to his career" - marked Mayes's arrival
and he has gone on to win a number of other awards since. He exhibits
around the country, although has a permanent exhibition at The Gascoigne
Gallery at Royal Parade, Harrogate, where he recently staged an exhibition
which again was a critical success that pulled in the punters, "Selling
the work is secondary, but we all have bills to pay," added Mayes.
Nick Ahad
23 June 2004
More
to be added soon...........
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