[gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="12187,12188"] Tim Saunders Saudi Gazette Paintings by a professional artist are being exhibited at Waterfront Gallery in Milford Haven until November 17. Distinctive still life and landscape works by Ken Maycock, a graduate of the Slade, feature in the group show at the gallery. Ken, who lives in Pembrokeshire, was introduced to the gallery by Creative Coverage, which represents selected professional artists. "I took them some work last Friday and they instantly included three of my paintings in their new group exhibition," says a delighted Ken. "One of the paintings is Still Life with Onions, which is the featured painting on my Creative Coverage web page. They were unbelievably enthusiastic and have asked for much more work once I have had it framed. At the moment they have two still life paintings and one small landscape. The work which I will be taking them shortly is mainly landscape." A graduate of the Slade, Ken mainly works from direct observation and has recently been painting the landscape in North Pembrokeshire. These are not picturesque images of mountain, heath and shoreline normally associated with West Wales, but rather a more intimate and personal subject matter-paintings of the pathway that cuts through Ken's rather wild, uncultivated garden. "Painting outside is a relatively new venture for me," says Ken. "Having moved to Pembrokeshire, I wanted to paint the landscape, only to find it yards from my back door. I have barely changed my position for five years now - the constantly changing foliage, light, weather and seasons have kept me pretty much rooted to the same spot." Drawing lies at the heart of all that Ken does and his paintings are literally drawn with colour; drawing and painting are, for him inseparable. He also paints still life in the studio and although oils are his favoured medium, he likes to work using watercolour, pastel, gouache and acrylic. Ken's aim is to get the drawing right whilst keeping the image ‘alive' and to this end he is prepared to make endless changes and revisions without (hopefully) sacrificing spontaneity.
