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):
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:
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Community Projects
By early 2014 I'd painted a few murals and installations around and someone was asking me if there was an official 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 paintd 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.
So far I've painted 3 murals in the city and looking to create a trail of paintings and art installations around the city 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.
So far I've painted 3 murals in the city and looking to create a trail of paintings and art installations around the city similar to the projects I've worked on in the UK:
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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
If you'd like to keep up-to-date with the latest projects and exhibitions then enter your name and email address below to subscribe to the newsletter:
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As a newsletter subscriber you'll receive invitations to exhibitions and events, be kept up-to-date with the latest projects and releases, and you'll also receive a set of 7 High-Res Wallpapers for your desktop, tablet, or smartphone:
Ask Me a Question...
I hope you've enjoyed this background information
about me and my work as an artist.
If you have any questions about any of my pieces or if you'd like to find out more
about my techniques and processes then click on the link below:
Ask Me a Question
Also, if you'd like to find out more about what my art is about then
check out the following series of Art Insight blog posts:
about me and my work as an artist.
If you have any questions about any of my pieces or if you'd like to find out more
about my techniques and processes then click on the link below:
Ask Me a Question
Also, if you'd like to find out more about what my art is about then
check out the following series of Art Insight blog posts:
Art Insight Series
by Michael Carlton
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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