About Me
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I've been working as an artist since 2005, and although I didn't study art at school, I've always been interested in drawing, colours and the visual arts.
I come from a more technical and scientific background having studied sciences at A-level, and then Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College in London. After studying engineering for a year I then changed to study Economics and Philosophy at the London School of Economics. |
After graduating from LSE I started keeping notebooks and diaries of doodles and mindmaps as a way of organising my thoughts:
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At first they were all just in black and white, but then I discovered Letraset Promarker pens (which I now use for most of my ink drawings) and started to colour some of the doodles in:
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I played around with these doodles and pens for a while and after about a year or so they started developing into finished full-colour pieces:
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My pieces started off quite abstract like the pictures above, and then they started to get a bit more formative and surreal:
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I started off doing pictures that were quite small (A5) because they were the same size as I was used to working with in my sketchbooks, but then I started scaling them up to A4 once I had more confidence:
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Once I could do A4 I then moved up to doing pieces A3-sized:
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... and then finally moved up to the largest sized drawings I do which is A2:
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First Exhibitions
My first exhibition was at the RISC Global Cafe in Reading and that was in July 2007. The exhibition was a success - people seemed to enjoy my work and a few pieces sold so I decided to develop my art bit further:
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As a part of the exhibition the cafe invited me to paint a 6 square-metre wall with a mural. At the time I wasn't sure if I'd be able to as the largest piece I'd done until then was on A2 paper.
I also didn't have much experience with paint but I thought I'd give it a go anyway...
I thought if I just followed the same process I used with my drawing and just scaled it up to fit on the wall it should turn out fine - and fortunately it did!
I also didn't have much experience with paint but I thought I'd give it a go anyway...
I thought if I just followed the same process I used with my drawing and just scaled it up to fit on the wall it should turn out fine - and fortunately it did!
London Exhibitions & Paintings
I exhibited my work in a few more locations in my hometown of Reading, and then had my first exhibition at a gallery in the London (The Jago Gallery):
Exhibition at The Jago Gallery, London
It was around this time that I also started experimenting with acrylic paint and other media including pastels, collage and ceramics:
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This was quite exciting because it gave rise to a new style and mode of expression that wasn't available with pens alone:
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Art for Businesses & the Home
Between 2011 and 2012 I started branching out into home improvements services and branding enhancements for businesses.
In 2012 I met a couple who initially just wanted to buy some paintings for their walls, but who then ended up getting their whole apartment filled with art - as if their home had been turned into a personally curated exhibition of art.
Around that time I also was commissioned to paint a mural in a colour scheme matching the brand colours of a restaurant in London, which gave birth to my Independent Business Art services:
In 2012 I met a couple who initially just wanted to buy some paintings for their walls, but who then ended up getting their whole apartment filled with art - as if their home had been turned into a personally curated exhibition of art.
Around that time I also was commissioned to paint a mural in a colour scheme matching the brand colours of a restaurant in London, which gave birth to my Independent Business Art services:
Neal's Yard Salad Bar, London
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Neal's Yard Salad Bar, London
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Community Projects
By early 2014 I'd painted a few murals and installations around Reading and someone was asking me if there was a trail/walk around the town that they could go on to see them all.
I said there wasn't but his question gave me the idea to formulate the Art Around Reading project - an initiative to create a trial of murals and art installations that bring more colour and creative vibrancy to Reading's town centre and surroundings:
I said there wasn't but his question gave me the idea to formulate the Art Around Reading project - an initiative to create a trial of murals and art installations that bring more colour and creative vibrancy to Reading's town centre and surroundings:
As a part of the Art Around Reading project I painted a mural at a primary school in Caversham (which is where I grew up).
Prior to painting the mural the teachers at the school (St. Anne's Primary) organised an art workshop with the children to get them to explore their creativity before I started work on the painting.
This gave them the chance to ask any questions they wanted about art and then when the painting was complete we had a group exhibition of all the new pieces, and gave rise to the Art for the Schools project - which is designed to bring creative inspiration and expression to children at school:
Prior to painting the mural the teachers at the school (St. Anne's Primary) organised an art workshop with the children to get them to explore their creativity before I started work on the painting.
This gave them the chance to ask any questions they wanted about art and then when the painting was complete we had a group exhibition of all the new pieces, and gave rise to the Art for the Schools project - which is designed to bring creative inspiration and expression to children at school:
Relocation to Amstersdam
In late 2015 I moved to Amsterdam, Holland.
Amsterdam is a great place for artists to live and I'm currently working on a few projects here around the city.
I've painted a number of murals around the city and am looking to create a trail of paintings and art installations similar to the projects I've worked on in the UK:
Amsterdam is a great place for artists to live and I'm currently working on a few projects here around the city.
I've painted a number of murals around the city and am looking to create a trail of paintings and art installations similar to the projects I've worked on in the UK:
Mural at Maccheroni Restaurant, Amsterdam
Mural at The Gouden Leeuw, Amsterdam
Mural at the TerraZen Vegan Restaurant, Amsterdam
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Mural at the Sugar & Spice Bakery, Amsterdam
Mural at the TerraZen Vegan Restaurant, Amsterdam
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Although I'm currently living in Amsterdam I still return to the UK at least twice a year, so if you were looking to get something painted then please let me know and we can arrange to meet next time I'm back...
Exhibitions and Events
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Wallpapers
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For more information about owning or commissioning The Art of Michael Carlton for
your home or business see below or get in touch for a Free Consultation:
your home or business see below or get in touch for a Free Consultation:
Art for the Home
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Art for Business
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