The Artist
Ross Eccles,
born 13th November 1937, is a contemporary English artist and
painter. He was born in Blackburn, England and grew up close
by in the small Lancashire village of Mellor.
Ross was
educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School before studying Architecture
at the Birmingham School of Architecture. He practiced as an
architect for 30 years, firstly in England and then in Canada,
before settling in Ireland where he ran his own practice up
until 1992.
He has been
based in Dublin, Ireland for almost 40 years, retiring from
Architecture in 1992 in order to devote himself to art full-time.
His early
work and style was influenced by his architectural training
and was in the form of architectural sketches and watercolours.
By the early 1990s he had begun to develop a more twisted, abstract
style of painting as a reaction to the rigidity and structure
that he had faced as an architect.
His architectural
background still undoubtedly has an influence on his artworks,
as his subjects frequently include familiar architectural landmarks
and building structures, although these are painted in an entirely
new light that reflects the artist's own vision, with bold colours
and broken lines. In recent years, Ross's style has become looser
and his brushstrokes more obvious and less defined as he experiments
more and more with acrylic paint.
His paintings
are created to provide a fresh perspective on otherwise mundane
subjects and to free the viewer from the confinements and limitations
of everyday existence. Ross says:
"There
is no need to copy an image exactly because it is more exciting
for a viewer to read into a painting, gently guided by the artist's
triggers, so that they can make their own judgement on the artwork."
Ross often
gives demonstrations to school students in the hope that he
can get them to see the world around them in a new way and change
their mindset in regards to life and art. He believes that conventional
teaching "moulds people into similar patterns and suppresses
natural individuality".
