Phil Duffy

I have been painting for 45 years, the last 15 of which have been as a full time artist.

 

My early works strived for likeness and reality whilst navigating the techniques and methodology of oil painting, I found often a painting that was progressing well would take a downhill turn as it became tighter and more defined.  I stubbornly avoided anything that remotely suggested abstract art thinking it belonged in the domain of incompetent painters.

 

Gradually as I made mistakes and achieved unexpected results that seemed to enhance rather than destroy my paintings it led me to explore the realm of the abstract. My work is still founded in realism but by incorporating abstract and leaving parts unresolved I believe it allows the viewer to participate in the final interpretation of the subject in order to imbue a sense of collaboration and ownership in the work.

 

I am largely self taught but I did decide to take up selective tuition in the hope it would help me better understand the techniques and processes that I was exploring in order to achieve more rewarding results. Over a period of a few years I undertook periodic tuition under Andrew James from the Royal Society of Portrait painters as well as the New English Art Club. Following this I had personal tuition both in the UK and South Africa from some accomplished artists including Kerri Evans, a successful South African artist of international standing who achieved acclaim through sales by Everard Reed and Strauss & Co. It was this interface with Kerri that opened my appreciation of combining abstract and realism.

 

My paintings are usually grouped by a selected subject. I will typically paint a series such as portraits of maybe 5 to 10 paintings then move on to some other series such as landscapes. My current project is a series called the children of Bo-Kaap.