I'm at the wonderful North Down Model Railway Society Exhibition at Bangor Grammar School April 2016.
Here is some of the work of Transport Artist David Briggs.
In his own words...
I am self taught and paint exclusively in acrylics now. I describe it as a hobby that's got a little out of control! I used to combine my love of all things transport with my painting and simply pile the results in the corner of my "studio", actually a converted loft in my home, until someone saw what I was doing and asked me to "do one for them". I did and it's taken off from there. I had the opportunity to take early retirement in 2006 after 30 years in the textile industry, at the ripe old age of 50 and took it. This allowed me to concentrate on my many interests and hobbies including railway preservation, the latter giving me the opportunity to get access to the reference material and detail so necessary in railway art. My motivation to paint is simply for the love of it, the fact that people pay me hard earned money for my efforts is the icing on the cake!
More on David-
I was born in 1955 in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, where I still live. I spent most of my working life in various management roles in the textile industry until that industry went 'east' in 2006, when I decided to take early retirement and concentrate on my many interests and hobbies. I have always been what is generally described as a 'petrolhead' and have been a keen motorcyclist for over 40 years. When my friends were buying comics as a youngster I was buying car, motorcycle and commercial vehicle magazines!
Painting and drawing has always been a hobby throughout my life although not continuously. It is only since retirement that I have tried to 'push' it on a bit. I have no training whatsoever and am self taught, but I am reasonably happy with my efforts. I think when I switched from watercolour to acrylic that things improved dramatically as it's such a versatile medium, indeed if I had discovered it years ago and pursued some professional training perhaps my life may have taken a different course!
Since concentrating my efforts in the last 9 years I have gained Associate membership of the Guild of Railway Artists, ( railways are another big interest) and now this Guild, and I must say it is difficult to disguise the feeling of satisfaction that comes from that, I am sure others from similar backgrounds will understand !
Most of my work goes to commission, I standardise on 30"x20" canvas board purely because I like to get the detail in! Most of my work can be seen on my public Facebook page 'The Transport Artwork of David Briggs', and you can contact me through it if you wish. Although railways have featured largely to date simply because that's what the orders came for, I am now pushing the commercial vehicle side. Whilst there are many well known artists in GB specialising on the transport subjects here in Northern Ireland there are very few so I tend to concentrate on local subjects to try and promote our little corner of the U.K., although if it's powered by any sort of engine I will happily consider any subject matter from any corner of the world!
I hope you enjoy my efforts, and perhaps if you are not an artist yourself you may be inspired to 'have a go'.
