www.avondalegallery.com Original wildlife, birds of prey, angling, portraiture, landscape limited edition fine art and photography Trevor Harrop, Passion for Angling, Chris Yates
| © Copyright The Avondale Gallery 2006 |
am completely self taught. However,
I wouldn1t quite put it as being
taught. I rather refer to my
ability and style of art as
having evolved. It started with
me being given a set of oil
paints and a couple of boards,
as a gift when I was a teenager,
and it quickly went from there.
I was soon being commissioned
to paint portraits and pets
and landscapes for friends and
relatives. Then for a while
the whole art thing took a back
seat as all my time was taken
up with my career in design
and printing in London, which
I left in 1999 and moved to
Hampshire to concentrate on
my art. I have spent time working
in all kinds of mediums, from
watercolour, producing some
very detailed wildlife paintings
and occasional oil paintings,
but very quickly, the most popular
medium has become the graphite
studies, or pencil drawings
to you and me. This medium has
a character and appeal all its
own. It seems to have something
the others do not. Black and
white illustrations and art
seem to go through phases of
popularity, but these pencil
works seem to remain as popular
as they have always been, if
not more so. I regard myself
as being blighted, rather than
gifted, with a tiresome attention
to detail. But, it is this that
seems to be one of the main
talking points of the general
viewer and collector alike regarding
my art. I like to think that,
if not pointed out, new discoveries
will continue to be made long
after the initial viewing, such
as a reflection in an eye, a
crooked claw, a chewed finger
nail, a shadow or a highlight.
The desire to achieve visual
accuracy of detail to a level
somewhat rarely seen in a work
or art has intensified as time
has passed, with it now being
a determination of mine to try
to include every tiny spot and
hair and glint of eye I can
possibly achieve; and it is
this that is the attraction
for collectors, be it fur, feather,
smoothness of skin tone, life-like
accuracy, or simply the obvious
effort expended in a works creation.
If I am not happy with it, it
will not be seen by anyone.
On this web site I have included
a wide variety of subject matter,
form birds or prey, including
owls, eagles, hawks and falcons;
a range of angling images, with
trout, pike, barbel, dace, salmon
and even bullheads, many of
which have been taken from a
book I illustrated, designed
and produced. I have also included
many of the portraits I have,
over the years, been commissioned
to produce, and working dogs,
which, it has to be said, would
also be considered as portraits.
This, I guess, would also apply
to some of the birds of prey,
many of which were commissioned
by their owners. There are plans
to include an exclusive range
of works or art. Currently,
the site has limited and open
edition print runs of all the
subjects. And while the originals
are also available, it is the
intention to produce works of
art that will not be printed
or reproduced in any way, giving
them a unique exclusivity. Original
art work is quite costly, but
I can assure the collector that,
comparatively speaking, the
purchaser certainly gets value
for money. In addition to the
subjects already available on
the site, there are also plans
to increase the diversity of
subject matter; and works of
African wildlife; big cats,
cheetahs, lions and so on; equine,
be it portraits of pet horses
or New Forest ponies; photographic,
with stunning images of the
most breath-taking dawns, landscapes
and sunsets imaginable, from
some of the people most adept
at their capture, like Chris
Yates and Terry Lampard. Chris
Yates appeared in the television
program, shown on BBC, A Passion
for Angling1 filmed by Hugh
Miles, and Terry Lampard is
appearing in the new series
currently being filmed by Hugh
entitled ?Catching the Impossible1
which features Martin Bowler
and friends. All in all, there
is plenty for everyone here,
from the art connoisseur, to
the person wanting to fill a
gap on the wall with a nice
pretty picture.
Having never received any formal training, and never having attended art college or any kind of art based institution, I am completely self taught. However, I wouldn1t quite put it as being taught. I rather refer to my ability and style of art as having evolved. It started with me being given a set of oil paints and a couple of boards, as a gift when I was a teenager, and it quickly went from there. I was soon being commissioned to paint portraits and pets and landscapes for friends and relatives. Then for a while the whole art thing took a back seat as all my time was taken up with my career in design and printing in London, which I left in 1999 and moved to Hampshire to concentrate on my art. I have spent time working in all kinds of mediums, from watercolour, producing some very detailed wildlife paintings and occasional oil paintings, but very quickly, the most popular medium has become the graphite studies, or pencil drawings to you and me. This medium has a character and appeal all its own. It seems to have something the others do not. Black and white illustrations and art seem to go through phases of popularity, but these pencil works seem to remain as popular as they have always been, if not more so. I regard myself as being blighted, rather than gifted, with a tiresome attention to detail. But, it is this that seems to be one of the main talking points of the general viewer and collector alike regarding my art. I like to think that, if not pointed out, new discoveries will continue to be made long after the initial viewing, such as a reflection in an eye, a crooked claw, a chewed finger nail, a shadow or a highlight. The desire to achieve visual accuracy of detail to a level somewhat rarely seen in a work or art has intensified as time has passed, with it now being a determination of mine to try to include every tiny spot and hair and glint of eye I can possibly achieve; and it is this that is the attraction for collectors, be it fur, feather, smoothness of skin tone, life-like accuracy, or simply the obvious effort expended in a works creation. If I am not happy with it, it will not be seen by anyone. On this web site I have included a wide variety of subject matter, form birds or prey, including owls, eagles, hawks and falcons; a range of angling images, with trout, pike, barbel, dace, salmon and even bullheads, many of which have been taken from a book I illustrated, designed and produced. I have also included many of the portraits I have, over the years, been commissioned to produce, and working dogs, which, it has to be said, would also be considered as portraits. This, I guess, would also apply to some of the birds of prey, many of which were commissioned by their owners. There are plans to include an exclusive range of works or art. Currently, the site has limited and open edition print runs of all the subjects. And while the originals are also available, it is the intention to produce works of art that will not be printed or reproduced in any way, giving them a unique exclusivity. Original art work is quite costly, but I can assure the collector that, comparatively speaking, the purchaser certainly gets value for money. In addition to the subjects already available on the site, there are also plans to increase the diversity of subject matter; and works of African wildlife; big cats, cheetahs, lions and so on; equine, be it portraits of pet horses or New Forest ponies; photographic, with stunning images of the most breath-taking dawns, landscapes and sunsets imaginable, from some of the people most adept at their capture, like Chris Yates and Terry Lampard. Chris Yates appeared in the television program, shown on BBC, A Passion for Angling1 filmed by Hugh Miles, and Terry Lampard is appearing in the new series currently being filmed by Hugh entitled ?Catching the Impossible1 which features Martin Bowler and friends. All in all, there is plenty for everyone here, from the art connoisseur, to the person wanting to fill a gap on the wall with a nice pretty picture.