What led you to work on your art full time and beyond Graphic Design? 

My degree was in Fine Art (Painting) and after graduating I panicked as I had no idea how to make a career in the arts. I shared a house at university with a couple of graphic designers, and it always interested me and somehow, I found myself working in the industry after graduating. I enjoyed it for a while, but it just became being creative by committee. People changing your work just to feel like they were contributing and doing their jobs. I decided to hire a painting studio and worked away evenings and weekends. After I started making a few sales and getting some recognition I decided to ditch the graphic design and go full time painting and never looked back.

Evening Shores, 120cm x 100cm, Oil on Canvas

 Discuss the importance of your local landscape of North West of England and Scotland in the development of your art?

It’s very important and I never take it for granted. My in-laws lived near the West Coast of Scotland, and it was a great source of inspiration, when I first started focusing on landscape / seascape painting. I try to get back there as much as possible. The Southwest Coast is also very important to me and my work.

Tell us about the five reasons for people to commission works by you? 

Art is always in the eye of the beholder, but a commission takes this to the next level– requests can range from a customer having missed out on an original and asking for something similar, to a photo from a landscape of somewhere they have been that has meant a lot to them, a honeymoon, a holiday, a place of special meaning to them, to deliver this to them in Oils is fabulous.

I’ve been doing this for nearly twenty years and can easily get a good idea of what the customer wants.

I know what questions to ask to really understand the impact they are looking for

I am honest and feel comfortable letting a customer know if something they have requested will not work. Even if it means not going forward with the commission. People appreciate that.

I have a professional approach and deliver, I have so many emails from happy customers letting me know what the commission means to them, it’s very rewarding  – I enjoy it and I believe that shows in the finished painting.

Setting Sun 2, 50cm x 50cm, Oil on Canvas

How have commissions influenced your art work?

They can sometimes send you in different directions that you might not have thought of and push you out of your comfort zone. They can also give me a good indication of what paintings are connecting better with people.

How does light influence your work?  

       Morning

Morning Tides, 100cm x 100cm, Oil on Canvas

Full sun

Beyond the Sun, 50cm x 50cm, Oil on Canvas

Rain

Evening Squall, 100cm x 100cm, Oil on Canvas

It could be said that light is my main motif and how it changes at different times of day. Weather is also important and we get a lot of it up here in the Lake District.

Why are clouds so important to you?

Clouds can create drama. They shield and reveal the light.

Tomorrows Sun,, 120cm x 100cm, Oil on Canvas

Comment on the horizon in your work?

Its all about layers and atmosphere, moody weather about to break or clear up.

The Falling Light, 100cm x 100cm, Oil on Canvas

What leads you to making images into prints?

I just wanted to make my work more accessible. I’m also with a few publishing companies and it helps putting my work onto walls where people can’t go for a large original.

What is your edition run? 

25 

The term ‘Expressionism’ how do you relate it to your work?

It’s not something that I consciously think about. I try not to directly reference real places in my work. Just the idea of a place that has been inspired by a place I’ve visited and experienced. To communicate the emotional essence of a place. That is what I try to deliver for people with commissions too, it means so much to people.

A Prelude to Dusk, 100cm x 100cm, Oil on Canvas

You are represented globally.  Tell us about two works that have travelled and where. 

I had an amazing residency in Kyoto, Japan. I was lucky enough to create a series of works there. I would love to go back.

The world seems a lot smaller, from the U.K.. Brexit was always going to be and is a disaster. Paintings going to the EU, declined almost overnight. Now there’s uncertainty with the tariffs from the USA. I believe original artworks are exempt, but I’m not sure many people are aware of that. I sell regularly to Australia and that has been consistent from the beginning which is amazing.

Solitude, 100cm x 100cm, Oil on Canvas

You now only do a few portraits a year why and who?

I’ve painted one portrait in the past five years. The portraits take up a different part of my head and was a great contrast to the landscapes. A few years ago I started exploring electronic music and this is now a really important creative and technical outlet for me that sits nicely with my visual work. I think it has replaced the portrait painting.

Comment on your studio and one thing that it continues to being you joy daily.

I had a great studio, in the centre of town, but unfortunately the landlord wanted to increase my rent by 300%, so I moved out. I now have a smaller studio in the little Lake District village of Staveley. It has great views of the local fells, which I feel blessed to have. It’s difficult to find good studios here. There are not many suitable buildings as it’s a national park and property is at a premium and scarce. I’m currently looking for a bit of land and so I can have a studio built.

How do you involve your young children in your studio?

My daughter is busy being a teenager and my son is crazy about football. What daddy does is not that high up on their radar, which I’m totally happy with. Also there is a lot of wet paint, which is not the best combination with busy kids! But they have both enjoyed being at the studio with me and creating their own paintings which is great.

After the Rain, 800cm x 120cm, Oil on Canvas

Contact:

Paul Bennett

Web paul@paul-bennett.co.uk

Email: paul@paul-bennett.co.uk

Deborah Blakeley, Melbourne, Australia

Interview by Deborah Blakeley, June 2025

Images on these pages are all rights reserved by Paul Bennett