Phil George

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History and Background

Phil George was born in 1960 into the North Tyneside town of Wallsend, where much of its history is steeped in Ship building and coal mining. After leaving school at 16, Phil was unsure of a career choice and spent some 3 years as a labourer on building sites. But with a love of art and admiration for artists including Stanley Spencer, John Singer Sargent, and Modigliani; he started Art Evening classes where he was taught and inspired by his tutor Maurice Mcpartlan. Impressed with his work, his tutor encouraged him to pursue his talent and study art full time, which he went on to do at Newcastle College of Art and North Tyneside College in the 80s. During these years he also played regularly in local punk bands, and his keen interest in diverse music continues to this day.

After completing an Art Foundation and then HND in graphic design and illustration, Phil George went on to a successful career in this field which lasted for over 20 years, working in London and the North East. Phil now paints full time from his home in Whitley Bay on the North East Coast.

You can see the influences of the illustration background in his work and his current 'City Gent' paintings draw inspiration from somewhere between Reginald Perrin (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin) and John Steed (The Avengers). They also tip their hats to the credit crunch we are all experiencing at the moment. 

His work begins life as very rough thumbnail sketches; Phil says "They are like a rough, shorthand memo of what the final piece will look like, although some are so rough, only I can understand them!" 

Phil has a large collection of these sketches which he likes to live with for a while, waiting to see which one will spark into life and inspire him to take it to a final painting stage.

Working mainly in Acrylics, he applies the paint direct to the canvas with a palate knife. A spontaneous overall application with a brush gives the finished effect and adds movement to the pieces. Phil likes to work on more than one painting at a time, sometimes moving between 4 separate canvases at different working stages; "It's only living with the work over a period of time that I can see each one emerging clearly. I like to leave each piece for a while and then come back to it with fresh eyes, allowing the painting to point me in the direction it should move in."