INTERVIEW
would only stay for a couple of years, but
in fact was there 25 years.”
He was so successful at his job that he
was awarded an MBE for his services as
an art adviser. During his time as teacher
and adviser David painted whenever he
could but at 55 he made the conscious
decision to paint full time. If he has one
regret it is that he should have done
it much earlier, but nevertheless has
reached great heights in the art world
in a comparatively short time. He said:
“Having been a successful art adviser, I
wanted to prove to myself that I could be
a successful artist.”
The Royal Watercolour Society runs an
international contemporary competition
each year, and David openly admits
he only entered it because of the prize
money. But he won it; was invited to
apply for membership; was elected,
and then rose to vice president. He said:
“I was asked to become president, but
living on the Island I was concerned
that travelling to London regularly
would interfere too
much with my work, so I
declined.”
He won the prestigious
Turner Watercolour prize
last year for a painting of
St Lawrence, which was
bought buy an Island
resident, and he won the
International Painting
Prize in 2008. In 2012 he
was shortlisted for the
£40,000 Threadneedle
prize, and finished
runner-up, to further
highlight his incredible
artistic talents.
His employment often took him to
Italy with art students, and the Tuscany
area, with its inspirational array of art,
subsequently influenced a lot of his
works. That proved very beneficial when
an Italian restaurant chain, initially
based in Cheshire, bought his
works to hang on the walls in
their restaurants all over the
country. David recalls:
“Over a period of two years
they bought 66, many of
them as big as 8ft by 16ft,
and they were hung in
their establishments all
over the country. I was
once told I had more
works on display than
Turner! When I was
commissioned I had no
idea they would want so
many, until the owner
told me I had better forget
about going on holiday
that year. In fact the 66 works took me
two years to complete.”
David and Jean moved to the Island in
2000, initially living near Arreton before
settling in St Lawrence because they
wanted to be near the sea, and he now
works out of a studio near his home. He
said: “The wonderful thing about the
Island is there is landscape and seascape
and the light here is phenomenal fo