Chris Bilton Art

Hello, many thanks for calling in, below is a quick rundown of what I’m about.

By trade I’m a graphic designer, I create art in oils, watercolour, acrylic, pencil, pen and ink, pastels, film, Photoshop, collages, sculptures, abstract and fine art. I also paint the open (plein air) mainly countryside and woodland views. I sculpt in stone, wood, metal and mixed media and have sold and exhibited in many galleries worldwide.

I have a very deep seated need to create, if I could explain exactly why then maybe I wouldn’t do it. If people get half as much fun looking at my work as I did produce it, then that’s great, but really, I do it for myself. Ultimately, I hope my work speaks for itself without too much explanation. The work here reflects my interest in contemporary art and the way I perceive the world around me. I like to play with words and the titles of abstract work and sculptures, some are appropriate, others fly in the face of reason leaving the viewer to contemplate the artwork on a different level.

I also have a BA in English literature and theatre studies that enabled me to teach part time and mentor in the written word. I’m also a published author: short stories, novelettes, poetry etc and have had 12 plays performed professionally on stage.

Painting

In my plein air paintings I try to capture the wild and hardy beauty of my native Yorkshire landscape and its wildlife so when out and about I work quickly so as not to miss the sight, smells and sounds of the inspirational landscape before me. My paintings and drawings are the result of years of honing my art skills with pen and paintbrush, not to mention hours spent walking the hills and downs across open moorlands sketching and painting the beauty of South Yorkshire and beyond.

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Pen and Ink

All my pen and ink drawings balance immediacy with control, hopefully making the observer aware of deeper layers, discovering more than they see at first sight. I take calculated risks with each pen and brushstroke, a balance between reality and the unconscious mind. This sense of freedom and unreality mingles with past experience which is funnelled into the reality of every line.

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Sculpture

My sculptures are inspired by fictional or real characters that come from my imagination and influenced by fantasy, myths or just funny moments that come to mind, rather like 3 dimensional jokes or strange happenings caught in the headlights of my imagination. As a poet I’m interested in words and how titles can change the perception of the viewer, so sometimes I’m quite playful with the titles and challenge the observer to see deeper into the work, is the title relevant or not? that’s in the mind of the viewer.

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Photoshop

My Photoshop work is a flight of imagination and sheer unexpurgated fantasy. They are all created on the computer so no original can really exist, once they are printed out, they are immediately second hand, the original is none existent, so just enjoy a trippy trip into my inner psyche.

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