EARLY YEARS
"Someone once asked me why don't I paint the Venice canals to which I replied) I paint the canals of Salford."
''Art is magic - if it doesn't arouse the senses it's not art."
'¼ punch will be f orgottenJ a bad word will last forever."
"When I was in the womb my mother thought I was kicking her but I was either painting or playing the piano.'
"Do not start a painting, con1pose niuszc or vvrite poet1J1 u11less _vou feel like vou H1ant to change the 1vorld, it doesn't rnatter if),ou don't but what ,natters is vou tried." _,,
"The cut-outs are a way in which I simplify chosen subjects."
6'C
"Those who know nothing talk a lot1 those who do know everything say very little.))
I"This art dealer has an intellect of a frog (but we won't na n1c /; i::i )_
No book can really speak for this artist. As he himself affirms, one day he could be painting a beach scene and the next be working on an entirely different project. From bronzes such as the 'Skipping Girl' and 'Alison the Yo Yo Girl', to sculptures made with masking tape and recycled garden wire, to painted recycled pottery, jugs and plates. His work is enjoyed and collected worldwide.
"I'm not interested in what I have created, it's what I haven't that I am interested in."
I I I' I
"For every great painting there are probably 10 that aren 1t. 11
Simeon gets up at 6am and works all day seven days a week. He states that 'he is a morning person' and this derives, he says, from his working class background. His parents were greengrocers who would be up at 7am to prepare their vegetable and fish shop. Simeon would get up an hour earlier as his way of showing respect for them - a habit that continues to this day.
As with many of Simeon's ideas there are what he describes as, 'themes and variations', which are often associated with his piano music. It was due to this extraordinary diversification in his work that I decided to do this book.
"People always ask what am I going to do tomorrow but I really don't want to know what I am creating the next day or life would be boring."
Although much of Simeon's work is humorous there is work that commands deeper thought and are what he describes as, 'more puzzling'.
THEME AND VARIATIONS
'1 don't like the word abstract but my paintings move into these areas gradually simplifying."
"When
asked have I created anything today - I reply I created a hundred things but not all of them will get to flower in the garden."
Simeon readily admits that he has created some of his best works from so called 'mistakes'.
"When an artist tells you how they did this or that to create their work of art, trust me, I have been doing this for over 50 years and I would simply say - do what you want to do and just paint with your Soul."
Plates, wooden forms and other often obscure items, found in skips or second hand shops are used if the artist believes he can re-create something with them.
'~ dealer once asked me if I had anything for £600 when at the time my paintings were selling for around £2000. So :·old him I had a few that I :nted when I was about .'ears old."
''All art is related, all colour use in art is related, whether it be abstract or figurative."
"I hope no people were harmed in the making of this book - but there is still time."
On one of Simeon's many visits to Devon I introduced him to the attractive coastal town of Beer. On our first visit in 2018 he made many sketches of the town and fishing boats anchored on the beach. Over the next few years these developed into a body of work known as the 'Fishermen Series'. Many of these were portrait paintings and latterly became known as the Apostles, finally culminating in a large painting entitled the 'Last Supper'.
"In 2009 I gave a book about 1ny art to SallJ1, a galle1y owner in West ConzH 1<2ll. She said to 1ne - 'You know Sinzeon, people don't need a book on )'OU - they love your paintings and 1vant to be in them~"
New shapes began to appear in Simeon's work. He developed these from a repeated theme which coupled with his drawings are often used in the process of creating new paintings.
