Beach Combers Paul Ellis artist
Paul Ellis said: “The beauty of Thanet played a major part in inspiring me to make this huge life change – so Margate was the natural choice for my first British exhibition.”
Until a year ago Mr Ellis was a Head teacher of The British School in The Netherlands and painted in his spare time.
But now he’s become a full-time, professional painter.
Years of visiting and painting the coastal sights of Thanet played a big part in inspiring the Scottish-born painter to make this step.
“I can only say I’ve fallen under Thanet’s spell,” he said. “All round Thanet’s coast I’ve discovered beauty that I feel is widely underestimated and undervalued by the world and I want to paint it.”
The exhibition, which opens later this month in Margate, is called “Coast to Coast” and includes a series of his paintings which compare and contrast the natural scenery of Thanet with that of Holland.
Kingsgate Cliffs Paul Ellis artist
Though Thanet’s coast has been painted by many artists over the years, including most famously William Turner, he believes he has brought a fresh and questioning eye to it, using a style he calls “magical realism”.
Mr Ellis said: “At first glance a painting may looks like it’s a straightforward representation of a cliff or a sky or a beach hut, but there’s always an edge to it, something which causes the viewer to question what they’re seeing.”
Mr Ellis says what he’s doing is a gamble. “Putting on an exhibition like this is an expensive and risky enterprise – especially given the current difficult economic conditions,” he said. “I just hope people will come and like what they see.”
The Coast to Coast exhibition is from 24th of May 2013 to June 2013 at the Harbour Arm Gallery.
Strange how in the first painting we have a delectable young lady deliberately flaunting a fair expanse of thigh whilst the young man in the foreground shows more interest in searching for fossils. Is this a commentary on the changing Thanet scene or is it confined to those who frequent Botany Bay. Alternatively is it something in our water supply?
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