visual arts & contemporary crafts

together forever, childhood sweethearts. June had an interest in art and a few years earlier Woody had bought her some art materials, which she had not got around to using.

At some point he picked up these materials and started painting again. He re-studied art history and certain artists and techniques he came across began to inspire him, relating, as they did, to what he was trying to do with his work. The Fauvist movement caught his attention. It was similar to what he was trying to achieve and at one transformative moment during this period he realised ‘I’ve always been a painter’ and began to paint again in earnest. This artistic search and discovery turned out to be very therapeutic and helped him through such a devastating period in his life.

Woody was influenced by the Japanese culture, having toured there many times as a musician, and he loved the simplicity of form prevalent in the culture. He also came across an article dealing with Magical Realism. It was referring to some literary work, but the concept made sense and stayed with him. He realised that this was ‘his thing’ – it all started to fit together for him and he has been turning out work regularly ever since.

At the time of writing, the new Art page on his website is nearing completion and will feature his artworks and latest collections. With riots of colour being the recurring theme his paintings include figurative work and landscapes. He is currently focussing on portraits and has a new collection of stunning portraits completed which will be exhibited on the website.

He also has many other pieces of work completed awaiting their release. Some galleries have already shown interest in Woody's work and it seems this new venture is now heading down the runway and is due for take-off any moment.

We asked about his purpose as an artist. He told us “I’m trying to produce an aesthetic piece of work that communicates and creates a resonance within someone, causing someone to look at something from a different point of view”.

We ended off the interview discussing the potential influence of AI on the field of art and, somewhat surprisingly, Woody has a positive attitude towards it, comparing the worry artists might have to the panic that occurred when photography first came on the scene. He feels people need to be left to make up their own mind about it. In the final analysis it is a choice that can only be made by the artist and the viewer or purchaser.

Visit www.woodywoodmansey.com to find out all about Woody’s art and music.