Paddy Martin

Every day Paddy spends time by the sea. Sometimes surfing, sometimes stand up paddle boarding or maybe just walking the dog along the beach, and every day the sea inspires him. Since graduating in Fine Art at the time of Brit Art and studying under some of the YBAs Paddy has had a fascination with paint, light and by the juxtaposition between the paint and the surface its applied to. Like a walk along the beach, this is never exactly the same.

Every recycled sail Paddy uses for his paintings already has tales of adventures woven into it over its years of use. Add to this adventure, paintings that are very much about atmosphere, space and light, and also about the very stuff they are made of?Paint. Then overlay a process of sourcing materials, repurposing, layering paint and sanding back to reveal both the studio activity and the very history of the sail and you start to understand Paddy's aim to engage with viewers of his work through the three narratives of the history of the materials, the process in the studio and the atmosphere and light of the finished pieces.

After graduating in Fine Art in 1998 Paddy spent several years making paintings of surfers, surf and sub aqua vistas before moving towards painting commissioned works. Recent work has returned to using the sea as his inspiration using sea goers as centre pieces in sometimes chaotic backdrops. The works are presented on traditional canvas, artists' board, panels made from reclaimed timber and stretched pieces of reclaimed sails complete with seams and eyelets. These textures and the history of the materials are an integral part of the paintings which are painted in layers, then sanded back to reveal glimpses of base layers which are sometimes complimentary to and sometimes in complete contrast to the surface layer which draws the viewer into open, wild seascapes.

Paddy's work has sold in galleries across the UK, Republic of Ireland, USA and Portugal, even appearing in a nationwide Guinness campaign. Recent work has sold from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight through to New Jersey and Houston in the USA.