One of the things I find most fascinating when interviewing people for Rye News is discovering the unexpected, those moments when the public persona quietly slips aside and the real person emerges.
That was certainly the case when I sat down with Christopher Broadbent, who lives in Beckley and, by his own admission, frequently “haunts” Rye. I had imagined I would meet someone who had made a deliberate leap from a business life spent helping save the planet into the altogether different world of painting, (Christopher founded a global sustainability consultancy and still works there part-time). Instead, what I found was someone who seemed almost to have wandered into art by chance. “My life has been entirely accidental,” he told me.
Christopher readily describes himself as an amateur, especially surrounded by the many talented professional artists Rye attracts and nurtures. Yet he speaks about art with a quiet conviction, believing it belongs to everyone and that, with patience, anyone can learn to draw. The key, he says, is learning how to really see, not simply the object itself, but the spaces around it too. The gaps, the in-between spaces which most people don’t observe. In his view, they matter just as much as the object you are trying to capture.
It is the same with photography, often it is not simply the subject that gives the image the power but the spaces around it and the unseen connection in between.
What first prompted your move from business into the world of art? Was it a long-held ambition or a more recent decision?
First, I’d stress that I am very much a learner. Not an accomplished painter. Rye and its surrounds are swarming with extraordinary artistic talent and I cannot for a moment pretend to be operating at that level. As for “move” I’d call it “sidle”. Partly because I am still working (as in I have a job, albeit having reduced my time), and partly because it isn’t a decisive shift as in “I am going to be a painter now.” It’s more of a “I am going to give this a try”).
Was there a defining moment when you realised this was more than just a hobby?
No. My life has been entirely accidental and sort of happened to me rather than me making decisions.
Has stepping into the art world changed how you see success?
It re-enforces how I see failure. I don’t mean that in a “poor me” way, but there is no harsher critic of an artists’ work than the artist him or herself. It’s never good enough. It’s always wrong. It’s always, “I simply don’t know how to do this bit.” It’s, “How did they do that and I can’t?”. Which I suppose you’d call brute force learning.
What themes, ideas and media are you most drawn to in your work, and why?
Faces. Always faces. It’s embarrassing and sometimes risky because I can occasionally find myself staring intently at someone’s ear, or nose and one day someone is going to call the police. As to media – oil, pastels, charcoal, pencil. I hate watercolour.
How would you describe your artistic style to someone encountering your work for the first time?
Clunky and in an embryonic phase.
Have any particular artists or movements influenced your direction?
Ewan Uglow. Rigorously observational. Degas – extraordinary and masterful pastel work. My dad, because he abandoned a brilliant academic career at 60 and threw himself lock stock and barrel into painting. Fiona Graham-MacKay, who is local, and one of the country’s top portraitists, who gave me tons of encouragement – that’s what you need. I still can’t remember what she said about colour mixing though. I only learn by doing.
Is there a sense of freedom in this new chapter, or does it bring a different kind of pressure?
Both.
How important is place, whether Rye or elsewhere, in shaping your creative output?
It’s not.
How do you feel when you are in your studio and you are in your artistic mode?
Content. Private. Frustrated. Curious. Lucky.
What would you say to others considering a similar shift later in life?
Go for it. Everyone can draw. It’s to do with seeing, not grasping a pencil. The gap between eye and hand is where people think they go adrift. Believe what you see and let your hand follow.
Looking ahead, what do you hope your work will say about this stage of your life?
At least he wasn’t making a mess in the house? What on earth do we do with all this stuff? He had a go?
Have you ever had an exhibition? Would you be nervous of exposing your soul to the wider world?
No. And yes.
What is your favourite painting that you have done so far?
I painted the three sons of a close friend of mine. I quite like one of them.
What three words describe you?
Like I’m a place? The studio’s What Three Words is Melons Acre Acrobatic. More seriously something like “Ambling happily along.”
Can anybody draw? The short answer is yes. Because if you can see you can draw. I don’t think drawing is about the thing. It’s about the whole – the spaces in between are as important as the thing. So one way of starting for someone who thinks they can’t is to draw not the thing but the gaps. The thing will emerge. Also people draw what they think is there not what actually is there. So add to your bag of tricks (gaps) by measuring. Is the elephants’ leg half as wide as the gap between it and the next leg? Be patient. But for heavens’ sake enjoy it.
Image Credits: Kt bruce .