The Artist
One look at his website, and you could be forgiven for wondering
who Simon Cooper is, as there's no reference whatever to his name.
He styles himself "JourneyBoy", (all of his artwork
is signed thus), and he is equally enigmatic about his background
or on letting us see his face. However,
Simon was born in Manchester, currently lives in Cheadle in the
south of the city, and is presently working on paintings that
include some local landscape features.
His works
reflect his deep interest in ancient standing stones and places,
and the new works featured on his website gallery are based on
the stone circles of Callanish. His colours are soft, effusive
and fugitive, and seem to the observer to reflect a deep sense
of the mysticism and spirituality of places. Simon says of his
work:
"The
more I paint these stones, the more I want to paint them - though
its not easy to convey textured oil paint as solid rock, grooved
and weathered, curved and angular - yet I wish to combine what
has already inspired myself in previous works with what intrigues
and fascinates me today. To mix emotional intensity, colour
and symbols of ancient mystery that are secrets within us all
- to make sense of past and present - for the future."
It's only
recently that paintings containing stones as a central part of
the landscape/mindscape theme have appeared in his work. He maintains
that years of research - reading books, (not always about stones,
but relative; interlinked and connected), visiting sites and observing
the ceremonial landscape - have ultimately percolated through
and gradually emerged in his work. An extensive gallery of these
intriguing paintings can be found on his website, where many of
the works presented are offered on sale.
JourneyBoy
may be contacted in the following ways:
Telephone:
0845 125 9427.
Fax: 0161-491 4031.
Post: PO Box 139, Cheadle SK8 4XL.
Despite being
alive and active at the original time of writing, the following
contact details seem to be currently offline or unavailable:
Email: artist@journeyboy.com
Website: www.journeyboy.com
