Craig Simpson
Our Sanctuary; the absurd and the familiar
As the nights draw in Oil
70 x 70 cm
£3,200
A self portrait of the artist sat in front of a wood burner in his living room, as the seasons change from autumn to winter. Using a drawing board, Craig is sketching out potential ideas for future paintings.
A personal painting exploring the difficulties between suffering from anxiety and depression and feeling motivated. Both figures self portraits, the figure on the left is struggling to get out of bed whilst the figure in the stairwell is up and about to go into the studio to carry on working on a painting.
The rooms upstairs
Oil on canvas
80 x 100 cm
£4,700
Workmen In The House
(After Stanley Spencer)
Oil on canvas
80 x 80 cm
£4,000
Craig wanted to pay tribute to Stanley Spencer in this painting, a personal influence on his own work. The composition is loosely based on a famous painting by Spencer, with two men working away while Elsie (the Spencer’s maid) and Unity Spencer (Stanley’s daughter) in the foreground. Craig has substituted himself as the workmen in his own version and used his sister and nephew as the figures playing in the foreground. There’s a personal family connection to this painting and the wooden rocking horse was made for Craig by his father when he was a similar age to his nephew.
The Interruption
Oil on canvas
80 x 80 cm
£4,000
Craig was really inspired by fifteenth century paintings at the beginning of his journey creating a body of work for this exhibition. He was mainly drawn to different examples of ‘The Annunciation’ and combining these ideas with his own personal experiences. An idea based on the annoyance of being interrupted whilst in the middle of a task (especially painting) and in turn makes you lose concentration and feel irritated. However in this painting, the roles have been reversed. It’s the artist being interrupter instead of being interrupted himself.
A woman dressed in a burgundy velvet dress is sat at a wooden table with a solitary apple in a bowl. A painting reminiscent of Craig’s earlier works. It was completed at the beginning of this process after we asked Craig to put together a collection of paintings for a solo exhibition. He soon started to experiment and explore with distorted perspectives and more complex compositions.
A painting with its layout inspired by dolls houses and followed on from another painting of Craig’s in this collection, ‘A Solitary Day’. The figures in this painting are based on a collage ‘paper cut-outs’ style, famously used in Dada and Pop Art movements.
£5,400
70
£2,700
A painting of Craig’s friend and old work colleague Colin Kennedy, an accomplished painter and wood engraver. Being self taught, Colin was really the only fine artist Craig knew. When starting out around twelve years ago, he’d come into work to show Colin what he’d been working on that week. A brutally honest critique, Colin would give Craig pointers to work on, giving him a better understanding of composition and eventually developing his own style.
A self portrait, with the artist standing in the foreground in his front room. There are paint tubes on the floor, Craig’s signature Brown Betty teapot (which he has included in a number of previous paintings), the fires lit and there’s a partially hidden figure behind the canvas on the easel. Craig’s interest in light, especially manufactured, is successfully executed in this painting with the muted light from a 1930s flycatcher shade which creates a warm glow and is being reflected onto his palette.
Self Portrait with easel
100 x 80 cm
£4,700
A day in the life of the artist, one who lives a solitary life. It depicts a different scene in each room of the house. A painting which was originally inspired by ‘The Boarding House’ by Eric Ravilious, an artist Craig became aware of when living in Brighton due to the East Sussex connection and famously depicting the South Downs national park.
A Solitary Day
100 x 100 cm
£5,400
A self portrait in one of Craig’s favourite pieces of furniture, a 1930s rocking chair, whilst holding a mug of coffee in one hand and an untouched sandwich balanced on his lap. The slouched positioning in the chair as well as the distant gaze reflecting the feeling of melancholy.
I don’t want to go
£3,200
Mother and Child
Oil on canvas
90 x 60 cm
£3,300
This is Craig’s sister and nephew on visiting Craig at his home in Cumbria. A domestic scene exploring different emotions which come after becoming a mother.
Serenade
Oil on canvas
90 x 60 cm
£3,300
Painted not long after the artist moved into his own house, he started to use more household items and furniture in his latter paintings. In this work Craig is standing in the corner of the room holding a violin and performing to an imagined figure while the light from outside shines on them from the window.
Combining realism with the surreal/dream-like state; many of the paintings in this collection have been influenced by fifteenth century paintings, not only for their subject matter but the different perspectives used which has helped Craig with his own paintings. Experimenting with multiple perspectives as evident in this painting as well as exploring real and imaginary characters ad narratives.
Eggs
80 x 80 cm
£4,000
Craig asked for the input from the two models in this painting for ideas with the title. Maïté and Jessica, both professional translators thought ‘Languor’ summed up the feeling well, as the painting evokes a state of blissful relaxation. The theme of the painting was initially inspired by Craig’s current influence in religious imagery from the fourteenth and fifteenth century. Mainly, the works of Robert Campin and Gerard David.
90 x 60 cm
£3,300
The Terraced House Oil on canvas
100 x 80 cm
£4,700
Two women stand in front of each other in the street. However, the painting is framed by a light band of colour, slightly disconnecting the women, as the lady with the blue scarf stands, looking as though she is standing in front of the picture. These are two models Craig enjoys painting, and both can be seen in a number of his works over the past few years
Dining With The Masked Man
Oil on canvas
100 x 80 cm
£4,700
“It’s the last dream you have in the morning, half awake already!” Maïté Lombard. A surreal/ dream like scene with two figures looking down at a table with an uncooked chicken on it, illuminated by a lightbulb above. The figure on the left is using opera glasses to get a closer look and the absurd figure on the right is contemplating.
Plaiting Hair In Kimonos
Oil on canvas
100 x 80 cm
£4,700
Two sisters share a quiet moment together, whilst one plaits the other’s hair. A painting which explores different perspectives, patterns and textures without it feeling chaotic or unbalanced.
