Paine Proffit

Paine Proffitt

I was born in 1972 in Phoenix, Arizona. Both of my parents were journalists; my father was the foreign war correspondent for Newsweek Magazine, so we never spent a long time in any one place during my childhood. This led to my life-long passion for travel which is a great influence in my work.

After living in Vietnam, Lebanon, Kenya and several places in the US, my family finally settled in Philadelphia, where I really became serious in following an art career. I studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design In Providence, during which time I spent a summer teaching at a childrens art camp, where I met fellow British artist Paula McArdle, who I have since married. I also took a year off to study with Paula at the University of Brighton. I count this as one of the most important growing periods of my personal and artistic life.

Since graduating, I have worked as a freelance illustrator for several magazines, newspapers and book publishers, building a name for myself and receiving several US national awards for recognition of my work. My work has appeared in group shows in galleries in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Boston and Princeton.

Since moving to the Midlands in 2001, I have spent time finding my artistic voice. I try to take inspiration from everywhere: people, lifestyle, fashion, music and sport. I have a huge admiration for such painters as Modigliani, Matisse and Picasso; their style and use of colouring, pattern and texture are very exciting. Possibly because of this interest, I have a strong love for colour and texture in my own paintings, always trying to bring the scene together whilst creating a surface texture that is a little rough and broken.

My main interest is in people and lifestyle. Travel has greatly influenced me and my work. In every scene, obvious or subtle, there is an element of foreign culture. I love the different varieties of style and look people can choose in life, and much of my work revolves around these central themes. I love the look of relaxed styles in cafГ© culture: Parisian street scenes and classic imagery of people from all walks of life enjoying a drink. A lot of my work has a romantic European influence to it. The look and location is combined with that classic, nostalgic feel of the 1920s and 30s. The vast range of emotion from the human character is an aspect that I like to utilise and study. I try to make my piecesfor interpretation, leaving the individual to take their own feelings from it. The emotional and psychological landscapes of the human being will always be fascinating to me.

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