Paul studied at Cheltenham College of Art before moving to London to live and work. During this time, his gained international recognition as an artist commissioned to produce public works of art, which naturally led to many private commissions. Paul sought new inspiration in the 1990s and embarked on a world trip travelling across the continents for a year.
Journeying through Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Central America, he explored the rich textures, vibrant colours and ever-changing character of the natural world. Following several solo shows that led on from his travels, in 1993 Paul was commissioned as the expedition artist of the first ever crossing of the Taklamakan Desert in Northwest China.
Having travelled to the far-flung corners of the world, Paul is forever drawn to the fleeting moments of nature that forms its ever-changing identity. He often paints instinctively from memory, and for Paul the act of painting is the act of absorbing oneself in the elements. His practice is routed in immersing himself in every aspect of his painterly process. He sees the mixing of paint, the building of textures and the act of mark making as a visual transference of emotion. Bursts of colour illuminate Paul’s studio, as his palettes often become paintings and his paintings seep onto the surrounding walls.
This spontaneity is reflected in every one of his works, and he follows an entirely intuitive approach to produce a multi-sensory body of work. Characterised by movement, texture and gestural brushwork, Paul’s paintings capture the underlying emotion of a place. Light, and the interplay between light and colour, sit at the heart of his oil paintings. His signature use of a palette knife, his application of colour and attention to light, gives each of his paintings a tangible sense of depth.
Whether reflecting chaos or calm, Paul’s paintings are unified by their ability to portray the essence of nature.