Gareth Parry

Available for sale from Big Sky Fine Art in the English county of Dorset, this original oil painting by the Welsh artist Gareth Parry and dates from 2012.<br> The painting is presented and supplied in its original frame (which is shown in these photographs).<br> This piece is in superb condition. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.<br> The painting is signed lower right.<br> Previously with the Thackeray Gallery, London.<br> <br> One of the most popular Welsh artists of this current generation, Gareth Parry was born in Blaenau Ffestiniog, a slate quarrying town in North Wales, in 1951. After leaving school he went to study at Manchester College of Art from 1969-1970. His formal studies were curtailed because left before completing the course, or, in his own words, “I managed to get myself kicked out for various reasons”. He returned home and worked at a local mine for a couple of years, following in the family tradition, before leaving and starting to paint again. He refers to this time as doing “anything to make a living by the brush”, undertaking commissions and producing illustrations, mainly in landscape and still life. Throughout these early years, he also worked as a labourer to make ends meet. From 1973-78 he worked mainly as a book illustrator.<br> <br> For over a decade he only painted ‘en plein air’, outside in all weathers. He regards this a crucial to his development as an artist and recalls it as “the best training I could ever have had.”. He then began to work more in his studio and from memory, which he thinks of “as the companion of observation”. Parry paints using a traditional brush, but also uses a palette knife, using considerable freedom of expression and “letting the paint do the work”.<br> <br> From 1980 Gareth Parry decided to concentrate mainly on exhibition work and since then has exhibited widely in London, including the Thackery Gallery, and throughout Wales. He has works in many notable private collections, as well as public ones, including the National Library of Wales, Coutts & Co. Bank, Gwynedd County Council and Oriel Ynys. <br> <br> He is best known today for his landscapes and seascapes, which are very much about mood, more abstract than figurative, capturing the effects of the weather and natural elements. He says that his works are atmospheric, more about “being there” than specific to a location. He describes his subjects as mainly “Cymru y Cymry”, namely land and people. His figurative works often reflect his own concerns about the changing social landscape of his native Wales. <br> <br> In 2006 Gareth Parry was elected a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy.<br> <br> © Big Sky Fine Art<br> <br> This stunning original oil on canvas by Gareth Parry is a bold kaleidoscope of colour and light. It depicts a coastal scene, no doubt off the west coast of Wales, with tall cliffs in the background, rising out of the deep waters of the Atlantic. In the foreground is a single small rowing boat, with a figure seated in the rear. This is a local fisherman, setting his pots in the hope of catching crabs, or perhaps even a lobster! The sea is calm and the colours that are reflected from the cliffs and into the sea are vibrant, capturing the sun’s rays and sparkling, suggesting that this is perhaps in the late afternoon. The shy above is a glorious blue, with many tones. The overall effect, as designed by the artist, is to perfectly capture the mood of the moment. It is at once an uplifting and calming scene.