Chris Billington - artist under the spotlight

As part of grish art's ongoing promotion and support of artists and creative professionals, we are posting a series of 'artist case studies' of which this is the second. We are proud to present Chris Billington, a Cornwall based practitioner who has recently employed grish art to design and construct chrisbillington.com

Pictured below 'Beached Boats - St, Ives' acrylic on canvas board by the artist Chris Billington.



Working from my studio in Falmouth I came to painting very suddenly and very late in life - or rather, painting came to me, literally out of nowhere, like a bolt form the blue. I had nothing to unlearn in the way of contemporary art practices, and no former familiarities to cast off, I have rapidly discovered myself as an artist, without preconceptions or preformed ideas and as such am not tied to any one style, although I work almost exclusively in acrylics supplemented recently by the use of alkyds alongside them. I paint mostly on canvas but also use canvas board and ply panels.

Strongly influenced by Cornwall, the land that I grew up in, my aim is to capture the emotion and rhythm of the land, the light, and the sea. through a combination of abstract and figurative shapes, purposeful and experimental but I am working more in abstract forms as my practice develops.

Conscious that I am treading a similar path to Heron, Scott and Frost, because I am constantly being compared to them, I am, however forming my own very individual style, relentlessly experimenting with space and the luminosity of colour.

As my art practice progresses I am continually learning and I find that colour is being deployed expressively rather than descriptively and I am interested in all possibilities of exploring the visual tension between shapes and colours. Also the way that through using colour to communicate and arouse emotion the viewer experiences a physical connection through the energy and vibrancy of the painting. In addition to colour I am interested in the spatiality of my compositions and how the relationship between these shapes and colours can create a feeling of space.

My works are a fusion of instinct and intuition, a combination of imagination and information, memory and sensation. They speak about me and my positive optimism and passion for life - and more than once they have resulted in the viewer expressing a desire to eat my work.

I get people to visit my site by a number of methods, first and foremost by talking about it at every opportunity - I give out my card to anyone with an interest in my work, or even just a passing interest in art, also by updating my news blog fairly regularly with news and events that relate to my practice and to art in general.

I am also a member of art sites such as Saatchi and not only does my website serve to give me added credence - it also provides an opportunity for interested parties to view more detailed information on me and my practice.

I have made a few sales direct from my website, I have also been commissioned for two works and I have had interest from a gallery in Canada and also some very enthusiastic responses from artists in New York and Brazil amongst other places. My website has also been instrumental in helping me to secure my first solo exhibition in Falmouth this coming summer.

I use the blog regularly to keep visitors informed of my activities - it is a most useful tool indeed and I plan on updating it even more frequently this year.

The only marketing tools that I have to date are business cards which Chris designed for me, simply stating chrisbillington.com with my email address and my phone number - they are in the same style of my website and any further marketing material will be in the same effective style.

Thank you to Chris Billington for this artist case study, we are sure it will help a lot of other creative professionals. If you are a creative professional or practicing artist then please contact us at grish art and we can help you.