STEPHEN GUYON BIRD

Stephen is a visual storyteller; he tells stories through the pictures he makes.  He draws from life and from landscape, but many of his works are narrative in nature.  In his paintings a mermaid rides her Lambretta through the docklands; Salome dances in a downtown bar; archangels walk the city streets and Jonah meets Leviathan in the Thames.  In many of his works there are references to the early saints and parables, Classical myths and legends – many set in pre-boom London including Deptford pubs, rooms in Lambeth, red pillar boxes, Routemaster buses, bicycles and scooters. Other paintings are set in the rugged coastline of north Devon, or a Scottish island – places Stephen returns to every year. His works express a preoccupation with the mechanics of drawing and painting and the new worlds that can be created simply through putting marks down on paper, board or canvas.