MIKE CROCKETT

Mike grew up in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. The sea and the culture of those who use it are powerful influences in his painting.

“Suffolk, her skies, her sea and her estuaries have stayed with me all my life, even when, as often, I have been on the other side of the world”.

When Mike was eight, his grandfather gave Jimmy Cable half a crown to take him out fishing off Aldeburgh beach. His love of the sea began then. He spent all his holidays from school on the beach, learning the way of life of the fishermen. When he was twelve he bought a small dinghy from Hector Burrell, and borrowed nets to fish for herrings and to trawl for shrimps in their seasons.

In 1964, aged 22, Mike bought the old wooden sailing yacht Shireen, and for five years he sailed her round the world. Navigating in those days was done with a sextant and Admiralty charts, and there was no help handy for a yacht in difficulties on the open ocean.

Mike has had a very varied life, farming in Suffolk and working in Russia for many years. When he returned to England in 2014 he discovered painting, and soon realised a consuming passion for colour and form. Painting now dominates his life.

The subjects in Mikes paintings are very eclectic, from remembered scenes of fishing off Aldeburgh to portraits , seascapes and still life. He particularly loves taking an object, a flower, a fish, or a face and giving the painting his own subjective treatment. He often uses a pallet knife and thick paint to give an intuitive feeling about his subjects.

Mike tries to paint with no fear, using colour and form as he sees them to create his images. His paintings are naive but honest , and draw heavily on the experiences of his life.