John Bampfield
John Bampfield has deserved his success and has now become a respected and collected professional artist.
John was born in 1947 in Kidderminster. Of mixed English and Scottish background, the young Bampfield showed himself to be gifted academically and artistically.
Although he was able to complete his formal schooling at the local Academy, John Bampfield's circumstances prevented him following on to a recognised art school education, and he entered the local carpet industry for which Kidderminster is renowned. In 1966, John moved to London and later, in 1968, to Cornwall. By then Cornwall was a flourishing artistic community, as many internationally known artists converged to live in Penzance and St. Ives to enjoy the spectacular qualities of natural light.
Bampfield confesses to a personal fascination for the proximity of the sea in all her moods. He found this in abundance in Cornwall with its unique exposure to wild crashing surf. Here, great waves, after travelling three thousand miles across the North Atlantic, hurl themselves against the granite rocks of the southernmost tip of the British mainland.
In these exciting surroundings, John Bampfield began to develop his natural ability as an artist, especially influenced by the example set by local mentors Ben Maile and Edward Dyer, who both enjoy national reputations.
With the support of a local art gallery and the encouragement of his wife, Wendy, Bampfield was quickly able to provide for his family with West Country sales of his oil paintings.
Now each new painting by John Bampfield is an example of how the artist has grown in stature. As Bampfield says himself: "I have worked very hard for the last twenty years to the exclusion of most other pleasures in life. That's my life there, every picture is extremely satisfying to finish and even harder to part with…there is a part of myself which I sincerely put into all of my work."
John Bampfield has developed over these intervening years into an artist with his own national reputation. His range of painting styles has shown steady progress through a variety of methods and genre into a new form of impressionist painting. John Bampfield has deserved his success and has now become a respected and collected professional artist.
John was born in 1947 in Kidderminster. Of mixed English and Scottish background, the young Bampfield showed himself to be gifted academically and artistically.
Although he was able to complete his formal schooling at the local Academy, John Bampfield's circumstances prevented him following on to a recognised art school education, and he entered the local carpet industry for which Kidderminster is renowned. In 1966, John moved to London and later, in 1968, to Cornwall. By then Cornwall was a flourishing artistic community, as many internationally known artists converged to live in Penzance and St. Ives to enjoy the spectacular qualities of natural light.
Bampfield confesses to a personal fascination for the proximity of the sea in all her moods. He found this in abundance in Cornwall with its unique exposure to wild crashing surf. Here, great waves, after travelling three thousand miles across the North Atlantic, hurl themselves against the granite rocks of the southernmost tip of the British mainland.
In these exciting surroundings, John Bampfield began to develop his natural ability as an artist, especially influenced by the example set by local mentors Ben Maile and Edward Dyer, who both enjoy national reputations.
With the support of a local art gallery and the encouragement of his wife, Wendy, Bampfield was quickly able to provide for his family with West Country sales of his oil paintings.
Now each new painting by John Bampfield is an example of how the artist has grown in stature. As Bampfield says himself: "I have worked very hard for the last twenty years to the exclusion of most other pleasures in life. That's my life there, every picture is extremely satisfying to finish and even harder to part with…there is a part of myself which I sincerely put into all of my work."
John Bampfield has developed over these intervening years into an artist with his own national reputation. His range of painting styles has shown steady progress through a variety of methods and genre into a new form of impressionist painting. John Bampfield has deserved his success and has now become a respected and collected professional artist.