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BIOGRAPHY
Sheffield-born Erik Clewes is chiefly a watercolourist, yet he is equally at home painting in oils, acrylics and soft pastels. He has no specialism, preferring instead to be guided by his heart, his subject matter being gleaned from the world around him. His style is clean and precise, showing a true depth of feeling for the subject. He paints what he sees, and how he feels his public wish to see it. His style is unashamedly representational.
Erik combines his painting with tutoring small groups of adults in all media, and he is in demand as a demonstrator for societies and art groups across the Midlands and the North of England. He also accepts commissions in any medium.
Erik Initially trained in 3D Design at Sheffield College of Art, where he met Brian Asquith, a leading industrial designer, with whom he subsequently worked alongside, and who became a great influence upon his cultural awareness in general, and his painting style in particular.
Erik worked with Brian on major industrial design projects. During this period, he lectured part-time on the History of Silver, and this led to a vocation in teaching and a change of career.
After completing his training, Erik moved to the Midlands. His teaching career in Design Technology and Art and Design spanned 30 years. In addition to his teaching, he also began to take a more serious interest in his painting. Largely self-taught, he took up painting full-time in 1993, when a back injury forced his early retirement from teaching.
Erik is a Professional Associate Member of the SAA (Society for All Artists), and was a founder member and past chairman of the Coventry Arts Consortium, bringing together Coventry's four main art societies.
He has exhibited widely throughout Coventry and Warwickshire, also the Thoresby Gallery, Newark.
His watercolour, "Figures at an Exhibition Preview", was awarded the Gallery Prize at the 2006 Thoresby Gallery (Nottinghamshire) 10th Open Exhibition.
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