About Berrisford
My art career began after a five year course in drawing and painting at Winchester Art College and Southampton University. I entered the teaching profession and remained there for some twenty years. During that time I was painting and exhibiting on a fairly regular basis. My fourth exhibition at the CLA Game Fair, Stratfield Saye, was very successful and I decided to resign from teaching to paint full time. I have exhibited in France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, USA, Canada, held one-man shows in London, Paris, Utrecht, Breda and numerous galleries in the United kingdom.
Painting in a conventional style over many years and thoroughly enjoying the process, I have often thought that a impressionistic style could convey more of the atmosphere and drama of sporting and wildlife subjects. Working in a looser format could perhaps give the viewer an exciting and atmospheric interpretation of the subject. As a result I have, over the last two years, been working on developing this idea and thoroughly enjoying the whole process.
This open approach can often have more impact and drama by not loosing the overall effect in unnecessary detail which adds little to the finished work. I remember some one saying that painting is not what one puts in but what one leaves out. Saying everything in a picture will often not allow the viewer to use their imagination. Of course the very subject matter often demands accuracy of form and detail and that is why I depict the wildlife subjects in a more realistic way than the situation in which they exist.
I have always been fascinated by wildlife and was fortunate to have relatives who were farmers in Leicestershire and from whom I learnt a great deal about animals and the countryside. My appreciation of which has been important throughout my life. I count myself lucky to have had such an opportunity.
I decided at an early stage of my art career to concentrate on wildlife subjects, in the beginning mostly landscapes. My particular interest in game birds came later. I found myself watching pheasants and partridge studying their behaviour and environment and came to appreciate so much more the life of these creatures and others of the sporting world.
At an early stage of my interest I made a conscious decision not to shoot. I felt I could observe more by standing behind the guns and working my Labrador. That does not mean I don't have the same excitement about the subject as others who are more involved.
My enthusiasm for my subject matter is as passionate now as ever. After many years of painting nature I still watch pheasants and partridge with the same interest, marvel at the sight of a woodcock, admire the speed of grouse and the elegance of deer. The pleasure nature has given me, costing nothing but my understanding and support, is immeasurable I have always tried to do it justice and perhaps on the odd occasions I have.
Berrisford
