Paul Stone

Paul Stone specialises in traditional still life compositions, often with a contemporary twist. Painting in oils, in the style of classical realism, Paul employs an accomplished use of light and shade to create a sense of texture and atmosphere in his work. The often plain backgrounds only serve to heighten the focus on the objects, seeking the viewer to reappraise the everyday and the familiar. Composition is a core consideration in the work, with Paul seeking a balance and harmony that recall his love for traditional Spanish and Dutch works from the Eighteenth Century, and more recent personal favourites such as William Nicholson.

“When I first started painting still lifes as an art student, it was essentially for pragmatic reasons – the subjects were portable, cheap to buy and never further away than the nearest market or charity shop. There was also a sense of nostalgia, a connection with the past through collected objects that had travelled with me from bedsit to flat shares.  As the years passed, these seemingly ordinary ‘things’, equally organic or inanimate, continue to hold a fascination for me, although the pictorial content is subtly changing over time.  While the focus on composition, form, colour and space is ever present, an ongoing re-evaluation of my work has allowed me the time to look more at the painted surface, and to question the decisions I make, both formally and emotionally to the subject’s relationship with the viewer.  This has resulted in a critical new ambition for my paintings, a search for a truth and maturity for an aesthetic in the work that is essential for me as a painter. “

Paul Stone