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James Morisson
James Morrison was born in Camberwell, London in 1932. He was educated at Camberwell School of Arts and Craft, and was taught by well known artists John Minton and Keith Vaughn. James describes the very different influences of these two mentors on his own work: "I consider that John Minton's disciplined approach helped to me to paint to deadlines, while Keith Vaughn taught me about tone, line, colour and the more artistic side of painting."
While at Camberwell, James Morrison also had lessons from William Coldstream and other members of the Euston Road School such as Euan Euglow. The Euston Road School founded by Coldstream in 1937, rejected surrealism and abstraction in favour of careful, subdued naturalism. Students were encouraged to 'keep their eyes on the subject', and the influence of these methods which strive for visual truth are apparent in James Morrison's work today.
James started his career as a commercial Illustrator with Pritch, Wood, and Partners and went on to work for other blue chip advertising companies such as Masious Winne Williams. He also served as a conscript in the RAF, and was the illustrator in a military hospital.
Inspiration for James Morrison's paintings comes from his varied travels, landscapes, and interest in architecture: "I like a subject which has an architectural element to it." He paints in a natural realistic style, in a highly precise way with a fanatical attention to detail.
Recent exhibitions have included a body of work celebrating Pilgrimages to Sant Iago De Compostela at Guildford Cathedral in September 2006.
Currently James Morrison resides in Littlehampton and is concentrating on a new collection of work depicting West Sussex, in view to exhibiting next year.