Niel Dawson

Extensive travel was the spark that brought him back to his easel and rekindled his love of the brush, including extensive photography and observation of different peoples and cultures. Eventually he established a studio at his home in Epping, in leafy Essex.

Inspiration can strike at any moment for Neil and he often finds himself drawing in a notepad for later reflection. He is driven by the fact that he is constantly learning something new, whether it is new: color palette, ways to highlight a work of art or create a color texture. He feels that each sketch allows him to develop and elements that will end up in his next painting.

Interestingly, Neil initially works from photos and can work with up to a dozen pieces at a time, gradually working on the image as a whole, using the brush and his fingertips.

Neil Dawson's inspiration was from everyday images. Having grown up with a love of art, nurtured at school and at St Martins College in London, he forged a successful career in the City, loving the buzz of the streets especially at night with headlights reflected on wet tarmac, the energy of London buses. and buildings reflected in the moonlit Thames.

Reading newspapers and seeing images of distant cities on TV created a passion for travel, which in turn became a springboard for creating his amazing artwork. Experiencing new cultures, surroundings and events, he photographed wildly and widely and returned home to create stunning and vivid international cityscapes that had become part of his own life experience. In addition to London, these cities include Edinburgh, Paris, New York, Sydney and Venice. When he paints in oil, the moods in his work change from vivid and dramatic to calm and peaceful as days evolve into night.

Neil says "I am inspired by the energy and color of cities. I love to paint iconic architecture and imagery - hoping to create a connection with the viewer and recreate memories of happy times in these dynamic cities".