About
About Colin Baxter
Colin was born in East Anglia, England, in 1944 and has been painting since childhood. After studying Fine Art at Hornsey Art College, London, he worked as an art teacher and sculptor in England for many years and continued painting and exhibiting his work. In 1989 he moved with his family to southern France, renovating an old stone house and constructing his studio.
A window into another world...
"Painting for me is about finding what is hidden through losing control and allowing the possibilities to surface. A painting is a window into another world which can stimulate your emotions and allow you to see things differently".
His artistic vision is continually evolving, influenced by art he has seen and studied, and inspired by a sense of life's wonder and mystery. The one constant in his work is respect for the painting process itself.
"You need to dream and let things come from deep inside. My paintings do not try to compete with modern sophisticated images that aim to manipulate, they are meant to stimulate your imagination with a sense of mystery".
Workshop in the cellar
More News
We will be regularly uploading new paintings onto the site. There are blogs
about the different series of paintings and work in progress.
You are welcome to visit Colin's studio in St. Paul le Jeune, Ardéche, France, contact us
for more information.
To see details of Colin and Jill's holiday accommodation visit www.ardecheholiday.com
for more details.
Tools of the trade
More about Colin
After attending Ramsey Abbey grammar school and Huntingdon grammar school Colin left to join the RAF where he studied radio and radar at Locking Air Force base in Somerset. Whilst there he got permission to leave the camp to go to Art classes in Weston-Super Mare. As his interest in painting and drawing increased, he decided to leave the air force. He was accepted on a four-year Fine Art course at Hornsey College of Art in north London where he learnt the skills of stretcher making, mixing the ground to cover the canvas and using the different pigments in the oil paints. He also spent time in the sculpture department and learnt to throw pots and sculpt in clay.
After graduating he spent several years working in the building industry and then did a one-year teacher training course at Brighton, immediately getting a job in Lancashire.
Teaching for twelve years did not stop him finding the time to create.
Whilst living in the north of England he decided to make his own gas kiln and potter's wheel. The cellar was the workshop and the shed built on the gable end housed the kiln.
In 1989 came the big decision to move to France. All those skills learnt in the building trades finally paid off. Colin and Jill renovated an old stone house making two self-contained apartments as well as their own home. In 2006 the art studio was finished.
Read the full story in "The story behind Colin Baxter, the artist"
and also Jill's blog.
