Rob's new show for us at Ffin y Parc is his largest to date. Wherever he goes, he takes his paints and his easel. His eye never rests. His subject is the activity and energy in the world around him.
This show contains work made in North Wales, and north-west England, Venice and San Francisco. Everywhere, he catches the spirit and immerses himself in the atmosphere. The ever-changing light and the constant activity seem to fascinate him. Nothing in these paintings is static or settled.
Rob's work has been evolving as he learns how to exploit multiple perspectives and vertiginous viewpoints, creating dizzying, impossibly precarious points of view which are at once disorientating and fascinating. Vistas twist and writhe! This all adds to the sense of restless activity and energy.
Though it has all the speed and immediacy of his observations, the work is not perfunctory or generalized. There is plenty of detail and character. There is a humanity. Rob is a witty and perceptive reporter of the hubbub around him. And he has a way of catching the way the light plays over the water or brightens a rain slicked street that sparks immediate recognition.
Rob was born in Staffordshire in 1982. He trained in Fine Art at Aberystwyth University. He lives in Stoke-on-Trent. His work appears in many public and private collections. His ability to paint busy, intricate scenes with speed, vigour and spirit has made him a frequent choice to paint significant state occasions. He was an official artist for the Coronation of King Charles III.