Meet the artist – Chris Lessware

Tell us a little about you?  I am an ex-teacher, born and living in London, working from home.

What type of art work do you do?  At the moment, abstract paintings on canvas, done in acrylics, often with oil pastel and/or charcoal as well.  I have previously worked on watercolour paper using same materials and have done some watercolours too.

What inspires you / influences your work?  Experimentation.  I try to use a variety of approaches – few/many colours, smooth/rough textures, grounded images/ filled canvas… it pretty much all comes out looking like mine, however.  I’m often inspired by the last artist I was looking at (see below for list).  Definitely Mitchell and Hilton.  I listen to advice from Marion Jones – it’s always right.

How did you come to be doing this type of work?  I got bored with doing pastel and acrylic pictures of the South Bank area and switched to small abstracts on paper – it grew from there.
 
Where did you train / develop your work?  Putney School of Art and Design.

What do you like about being an artist living or working in Tooting and Furzedown?  It’s home.  Lots of other artists about, too.

Who is favourite artist / art work and why?  All the greats from Cimabue to Picasso and -  Joan Mitchell, Asger Jorn, Karel Appel, Wols, Gillian Ayres, Peter Lanyon, Roger Hilton, Patrick Heron, Sandra Blow, Richard Diebenkorn.. and Francis Bacon, for the way he talked about art as well as the paintings. 

What new projects do you have planned next?  Bigger canvases, or maybe some dyptichs and tryptichs – like Bacon, but probably not as good (cheaper, though).

And finally, do you have any exhibitions planned? Yes – two Artdog exhibitions at -

 1. Dartmouth Arms, Sydenham, November 4^th  2009– Jan 6^th  2010.

 2. The Duke, Creek Road, Jan 6^th – March 3^rd 2010. 

Both exhibitions with Marion Jones.

Thank you!