Old buildings have long been a source of interest, inspiration and delight for me.
Miniature Fine Art
Whether it’s an old monastic ruin or a dilapidated vintage farm building, I’m likely to love it.
During my career, which has also included teaching Secondary School students Design and Technology for over a decade, I have worked with lots of architects in earlier times, and also been heavily involved in quite a number of prestigious projects. For example, Historic Royal Palaces, which included making several large public exhibit pieces for Hampton Court Palace, and also The Design Museum in London, amongst others.
I have also been involved with designing and making a wealth of architecturally based historical exhibits for museums, galleries and prestigious exhibitions, including large scale all weather reproductions of famous buildings for ‘Mini-Europe’ in Brussels, which are still on display, I believe. Other highlights for public view have included recreating Durham Castle as it would have appeared in late Norman times, a large chunk of Hadrian’s Wall as it would have looked in the Roman occupation, and the entire façade of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Even the Palladian Bridge in Bath with an earlier business partner. It is a long list.
I can recall, from more than a few years ago now, as a teenager with my Olympus Trip camera I shot a whole roll of film on a series of ancient and highly dilapidated buildings on a farm I stumbled across in the Dordogne whilst riding an extremely ancient Peugeot moped with a very disappointing top speed. Something had clicked, and they somehow appealed without any previous conscious thought; I just found them absolutely full of sheer aesthetic visual appeal as they sat slumbering in the sun. They were full of age-old character, crooked pantiles, rickety old doors hanging off their hinges, and a curious charm. That initial enthusiasm has never worn off but instead become more entrenched over time.
To this day I cannot drive or walk past an old, quirky or unusual building without wanting to investigate further.
I have screeched to a halt in a hire car in Greece and run back down the road to photograph something that caught my eye, much to the amusement of my wife. It’s something to do with the old history I suppose, and that intimate connection with the past. Even the colours of lichen and moss on an old brick wall I find lovely, or the peeling layers of paint on an old wooden door, and I have enjoyed looking at and photographing a fair few over time, partly for my pleasure and also as reference material for this enterprise.
It’s just my natural response, and top of the list for me are probably dilapidated old wooden doors, mellow dusty stone walls and peeling window shutters. All of my output includes one or more of these elements. I have found out that I’m certainly not alone, and there are a great number of like minded enthusiasts out there who have, for example, romantic notions of the mystery of old doors, their secret stories and the unknowable histories of the people who once lived behind the privacy and security they provided.
…as they sat slumbering in the sun, full of age-old character, crooked pantiles, rickety old doors hanging off their hinges, and a curious charm.
