Dorset born Simon Stooks trained at Shelley Park School of Art in Bournemouth and graduated from Falmouth School of Art in Cornwall.

Simon’s work had always been influenced by his surroundings. Although living in Cornwall has formed the basis of his development as a landscape painter, he hasn’t felt the need to tie himself to the area to continue working and has often travelled and taken on other studios in which to work, such as a lengthy stay on the east coast last year where his focus was the beach huts of the Kent coast. Another such move is planned for early next year to South West France, but he will continue to keep his studio near Falmouth as a base to return to and paint.

This almost nomadic lifestyle has kept Simon’s approach to his work fresh and vibrant. Although he has been working as a full time artist since his graduation with many successful solo exhibitions to his name, he recently conveyed to me a new found confidence in his work; that he finally feels he has found his ‘voice’ as an artist. This is self evident when viewing this new collection of paintings, the majority of which were inspired by the view from his harbourside studio window these past few months. The changing activity on the water outside - boats drifting by, tall ships moored in the harbour, gig rowers - recorded almost obsessively - they all portray the confidence in Simon’s work, not just in his instinctive and beautiful sense of colour but in his handling of the paint. His skills lie with capturing the evocative atmosphere of a place with a painterly and yet contemporary approach. He is still concerned with visual horizons and the way the paintings find their edge and he has also produced a small number of assemblages for the show which contain all the drama and affinity for the sea as the paintings but with an added abstracted dimension. All the pieces in this new collection from Simon continue to create a real understanding of creating an atmosphere and provoking mood through paint.

Simon Stooks has been quietly gaining a reputation as one of the county’s foremost landscape painters and it is my belief that he will continue to mature and develop into one of the UK’s most exciting and highly collected artists.