Graham Last

The inspiration for Graham's work comes from the natural environment of Britain and from his travels abroad. He is particularly fond of landscape but also enjoys drawing and painting birds.

Some of Graham's most recent work was inspired by a trip to New Zealand. A beautiful country with a wealth of artistic inspiration.

Although the images in Graham's landscapes are representational, he wanted to convey more than simply a factual record. The way light, for example, affects the shapes, forms and textures in nature is important. A familiar place can be very different depending on the weather, time of day and also one's mood at the time.

Graham uses a variety of media and techniques to achieve the result that he wants, often mixing watercolour and ink for example. He sometimes scrapes through surfaces and builds up several layers of colour on top of each other. He likes to break with traditional methods if it works for him. Graham is continually experimenting and will often find new ways of representing a particular surface texture or achieving atmosphere. In his landscape work he has used both high and low viewpoints to achieve space and distance.

Graham has had several one-man exhibitions at The Bear Steps Gallery in Shrewsbury. He has exhibited work at The Gateway and VAN Gallery in Shrewsbury, Church Stretton Arts Festival, Telford and Wrekin Open Art Exhibition and The RBSA Gallery in Birmingham. The annual Ellesmere Art Exhibition is one Graham looks forward to exhibiting in each year.