presents

   Stephen F. Morris   

Biography of Stephen Morris The Artist at Work Stephen Morris was born in Solihull in 1957 and grew up mostly in the West Midlands. Since his teens, Stephen has been passionate about both painting and food. He initially trained in hotel management at the Birmingham College of Food in Summer Row and achieved full membership of the H.C.I.M.A. After a successful career spanning twenty five years in catering, both as a hotel manager and running his own guest house on the Isles of Scilly, he changed direction in 1999 to concentrate on his art. Many who view his work say that he paints in a similar style to his late aunt - Nan Heath, a respected and successful watercolour artist and member of the Staffordshire Society of Artists, who had exhibitions in both Staffordshire and Scilly and whose work is still very popular. However, Stephen has his own unique style and, in his later paintings, he adopted a narrower format which can be used horizontally or vertically. He paints 'en plein air' because he feels that it captures the immediacy and freshness of the Scillonian landscape. He is strongly drawn to colour, occasionally painting well-known island views but often choosing a different and, perhaps, unusual perspective. Stephen prefers the traditional use of watercolour to produce sweeping atmospheric skies and sea without using body colour. He does use a similar palette of colours to Nan but tends to be bolder and mixes his media with the addition of inks and pastels. In the past, he experimented with a range of different media from oils to pastels, inks to charcoal, on projects like murals and large works. In recent works, particularly when painting on the beach, he uses sand, stone, seaweed etc., combined with the watercolour. 2003 saw his first solo Exhibition, held at the newly-refurbished St. Marys Hall Hotel on St. Marys, Isles of Scilly. Stephen particularly wanted to have his first Exhibition on Scilly and was pleased that the majority of original watercolours were acquired by islanders who, perhaps, do not often have time to visit Glandore Gallery where his work is displayed. Following an invitation from the Madrid based Galleria de Arte Gaudi, Stephen exhibited 10 paintings in France as part of their major exhibition at the Lille "Artevent" (European City of Culture 2004). Work was also displayed at the Galleria's own Gallery in Madrid. Glandore Gallery's range has now increased to sell a range of Stephens cards, lithograph prints and more recently self-produced giclee prints which have proved to be very popular. The Gallery now occupies most of his time - painting original watercolours, producing the Gallery's range of giclee prints and meeting customers. The giclee prints have released him from the pressure of demand for his originals, enabling him to think once more of a solo exhibition. He particularly wanted to have this first UK mainland exhibition back in Birmingham, so he was delighted when the Gallery of The Birmingham Botanical Gardens accepted him for an exhibition in April 2009. With this exhibition he hopes to bring some of his passion for the wild beauty of Scilly to his home city.