Art and soul (From The Northern Echo)

Art and soul

4:34pm Tuesday 3rd May 2011 in Leisure: Out & About

A naked woman one minute, an errant chicken the next, Darlington painter James Paterson talks to Ruth Addicott about life as a portrait artist.

WHEN James Paterson embarked on a career as a professional portrait artist, he didn’t expect to be running around a yard trying to make a chicken pose.

Fours years into the job, he has come to expect the unexpected and is no more fazed getting pecked as he is doing a family portrait.

James, 33, is the resident portrait artist at contemporary art gallery Gallerina, in Darlington, and has had all sorts of commissions from people wanting to pose with their favourite books to a life size carcass of a pig. The pig was already sliced in half on arrival and the final piece will be hung on butcher hooks.

“I’m actually really excited about starting that as it’s something I’ve wanted to do in the past,” he says. “I’d argue it is a portrait, I’ve painted dogs, cats, even a chicken, so why not a dead pig.”

James is from Darlington originally, he became a professional artist four years ago and has specialised in portraits for the past three.

He wanted to dispel the myth that portraiture was just for the “upper classes” and appeal to ordinary people, so he persuaded Richard Hindle, owner of Gallerina, to pose.

The painting of Richard, which can still be seen hanging in the gallery today, became a huge talking point and prompted a stream of commissions. So why should someone have a portrait done?

“Photographs age while a portrait doesn’t, it’s not just a snapshot of that moment, it has a resonance to it, it’s timeless,” he says.

James has an exceptional skill for capturing the life and soul of the sitter as well as their outward appearance. While he aims to please, he is a firm believer in keeping it real rather than airbrushing.

“A few people have said, ‘try to make me look thin’, but it’s mostly in jest,” he says. “I don’t take the warts and all standpoint, but I try to find the beauty of the subject no matter how unconventional.

Hands are often difficult to make appear graceful without looking posed, but that is usually a problem we overcome at the photography stage.”

Most people don’t have time to sit for a portrait, so James relies on photographs taken at a photo shoot beforehand. He also meets the client in person to discuss themes and colour choices.

“This chat is crucial as it allows me to get to know the person,” he says. “It’s important to meet, talk and see how the sitter moves.”

The photo shoot is conducted by James and Richard – an accomplished photographer, at the gallery or at the sitter’s home. The body, feet, hands and face are shot from different angles, removing the need to capture the perfect pose.

Apart from trying to coerce toddlers to sit still and stop cats from walking off, one of his biggest achievements to date was making a chicken pose.

It was for a lady, who wanted to be painted with her books and favourite hen. “It added a quirky twist, but I spent half the time legging it after the chicken,” says James. “They don’t really follow directions very well.”

Unlike TV where artists are often portrayed as womanisers, he has never been propositioned.

“The only thing anyone has said is, ‘I expected you to be taller’,” he says.

He has painted several nudes and one sitting that does stick in his mind was the time he was asked to paint a lady, lying naked on a chaise longue.

“We ordered some champagne with two glasses from the restaurant across the road to act as a prop and help with nerves, then we set up the chaise longue upstairs in Gallerina,” he says.

“Richard and I wanted to get the lighting right before the client arrived, so I got into the pose of the sitter, sprawled across the chaise longue and Richard took a few test shots. Just as he began shooting, the waiter arrived with champagne and two glasses. He looked visibly disturbed to come across what appeared to be a late-night rendezvous, in which I was being plied with booze to be photographed seductively.

Whether he stepped back into a gallery again I do not know.”

The largest portrait James has ever done was a family of seven. It was 12ft by 5ft, destined for Canada and took three months to complete. It was so large, a special collapsible stretcher had to be made and he had to borrow the studio of his friend, local painter Paul Denham.

James believes his love of art stems from when he was a child and has fond memories drawing with his mother.

“We would sit opposite each other and she would draw a dog or car which from my angle was upside down, then she turn it around for me to see properly,” he recalls. “For some time I too would draw everything upside down, then turn it around to reveal the drawing to myself.”

He went on to study Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University and cites pop artists Larry Rivers, Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton among his influences. James admits he still gets nervous before unveiling a portrait and tries to discourage sneaky peeks, as they give a wrong impression of the final piece.

“It destroys the magic of seeing it completed,” he says. “I normally try and hide out the way when it is being unveiled. I want people to experience it by themselves.”

He has had many people in tears – tears of joy (he believes) and is frequently bestowed with cards, wine and champagne as a thank-you.

So if he could choose anyone in the world to sit for a portrait, who would it be?

“I’m torn between people with great faces and the more selfish choice of people I’d love to meet,” he says. “Also most of them are dead which would cause a logistical problem.

The only person I can think of who fits all criteria is the actor Harry Dean Stanton. Great hang dog expression and he’s looked about 70 for the past 40 years.”

• James’s work can be seen at Gallerina in Darlington. For further information, visit jamespaterson.co.uk