Alex Morton
Alex Morton is a British artist currently living in Winchester having relocated from Cornwall, England.
Taking inspiration from the rugged Cornish coastline Alex finds the sea and the energy it brings though wind and waves both compelling and relaxing. He aims to replicate the powerful feelings he experiences when standing at the edge of the ocean with a seemingly never-ending expanse of space before him. As a keen surfer, he paints seascapes as someone who both recognises the beauty of the sea and comprehends its might.
For Alex, the nature of the painting process is as important as the finished piece. He works both in and out of his studio, painting on a variety of surfaces including large size sheet canvas often using materials found on the beach to add depth and texture to his work. Although influenced by the Cornish coastline, he can never truly predict the nature of his finished piece and takes pleasure from this reflective quality of the painting process. His compulsion to create along with the contemplative nature of his artistic process adds a tangible intensity to his work.
Alex has never undertaken formal artistic training. He discovered his flair for painting in 2012 when a friend suggested he combat his low mood by picking up a paintbrush. Since then, Alex’s life has taken an exciting and unexpected direction thanks to his innate talent and passion for painting. It is this absence of artistic education that makes Alex such an exciting artist; he continues to learn through experimentation with new techniques and textures that both capture the energy of the wild north coast of Cornwall and satisfy his eye.
Home from Home
‘My mother is Cornish, with grandparents from both sides of the family living in Cornwall every holiday I can remember was spent on the South coast, when the weather was nice enough Par beach was where we spent our time. I remember my father taught me to windsurf at Par, as a family we never spent much time away before the next visit down to see family, so it was from an early age Cornwall started to absorb into me. With my parents retiring to Cornwall the magnet to Cornwall only became stronger as the years went by. I soon grew from windsurfing to surfing and started to spend more time on the North coast, the drama of the North with the wind, waves and cliffs soon became my go to side. Growing up in Surrey I managed to make a move to Bournemouth in my mid-twenties, a step closer to Cornwall, in 2012 when I quite accidentally found my interest in painting, I moved to Cornwall to adjust life to allow more time in the water and my new direction painting. Living on the Pentire Headland overlooking Fistral Beach it didn’t take a day for Fistral to become my home, I was then living at the spot where I had previously spent endless nights camped in my car for the early surf at best tide. In 2015 I met Anna, we moved to Winchester as a ‘mid-way’ between Cornwall and London, and here we are, and we have little people, Noah and Arwen.
My new collection of work has been very much experimental a collection I feel is quite unique. Reclaimed crates were collected, mostly fruit crates from France, the crates were broken down, cleaned, dried and pieced back together creating the canvas. The heavy texture has been created by my usual technique of sand, hessian, nails, shells direct to the board. Primer was used to ready the surface on which acrylic paint, ink and spray paint has been used, a mixed media approach based on acrylic. The pieces themselves are inspired by my frequent trips to Cornwall both by myself and with family, the names of paintings are often borne from experiences linking memories to pieces.
Home from home feels an appropriate statement at this time in life, while my home is very much here in Winchester with Anna and my little people, Cornwall and the North coast is and always will be my Home from Home.’
August 2020
Alex's work can be viewed in the following locations:
Amanda Aldous Fine Art, Hampshire
McAllister Thomas Fine Art, Godalming, Surrey
www.mcallisterthomasfineart.co.uk
The Scarlet Hotel, Cornwall
Finsbay Gallery, Isle of Harris, Scotland
