insideKENT Magazine Issue 85 - April 2019 | Page 34

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
DAVID AUGUSTIN CONT.
What is the most unusual, daring, or
interesting commission you’ve ever received?
Restoring the period detail on the sides and
undersides of various London bridges was pretty
hairy, looking down at the safety boat waiting for
me to fall in wasn’t great. I’m not good with heights
so the mural on the side of the Old Kent Market in
Margate was a challenge too; finishing the top level
was a personal triumph. On a different tip I was
asked to provide explicit murals throughout a sex
museum, that was entertaining. I’ve spotted it in a
few fashion shoots since.
Why murals?
I reasoned that if I wanted to paint full-time I had
to be pragmatic about it. I’d studied trompe l’oiel
along the way, and also got involved in painting
theatre flats, so it became the obvious way to make
a viable living from art. Through work with English
Heritage I had a few contacts which helped kick
start the idea.
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How does Kent inspire your work?
Very directly. I moved to Deal five years ago and
have been painting it almost exclusively since. I live
on the seafront which runs north to south, so the
light is superb, the contrast between sea and sky
ever-changing; I think I’d find it difficult now to live
without the sea as the fourth wall. The town itself
has some beautiful architecture spanning Tudor to
art deco – the inspiration is endless.
Do you have any artistic heroes?
Edward Hopper is always the first that comes to
mind. His sense of design, placement, light, and
colour are something I aspire to. I also adore the
sense of melancholy his work achieves; again,
something I try to capture – coastal towns can be
melancholy places.
I first saw Van Eyck’s ‘Arnolfini’s Wedding’ as a
child, and the chandelier in that painting fast became
my favourite detail in art, so I was chuffed when
Hockney covered it in detail in his book Secret
Knowledge – it’s astonishing.
I grew up in north London close to Kenwood House
where Vermeer’s ‘Guitar Player’ hangs. As a child
I became obsessed with its viewing distance, how
when I got close in its brushstrokes were so simple
and stark but perfectly placed. That lesson has always
stayed with me.
I have to mention Rothko – his room at Tate Modern
is my favourite London space; Howard Hodgkin for
his gorgeous use of colour; likewise, Paul Klee. I’ve
been contemplating getting a tattoo of his line
drawing ‘Girl with Doll’ for over thirty years now –
maybe one day.
Where can we see your work?
The paintings of Deal are on my website
www.davidaugustinart.com. There’s also a
Facebook page ‘DAART’. My next exhibition is at
81 Beach Street (www.81beachstreet.co.uk) from
11th July – 11th October 2019.