I’VE SEEN A LOT OF EXHIBITION WORK THIS YEAR AND I THINK THIS MAYBE MY 2023 DRAWING ARTWORK OF THE YEAR!

Today, I shuffled past this display in one of the many Royal Stoke Cancer Centre waiting rooms I’ve had to visit since March.

It usually takes something to stop me in my tracks these days and this inspiring picture did just that.

For the purpose of confidentiality, I’ve covered the name of this young artist’s touching and heartfelt work. It was completed on the most available material that came to hand to record their experience of a cancer treatment plan, aptly (to my mind) on a scrap of corrugated cardboard.

Their artwork reached out and emboldened me to share my current health situation to a wider audience who may not know of my cancer journey too. I have stage 3 bowel cancer, it’s treatable and I still have some way to go to become cancer free.

So, today I completed my second chemo session. I cannot lie, the side effects can be unpleasant but not as unpleasant as the consequences of doing nothing.

I have a positive mindset which has been constantly refilled with love and support from my family and friends (home and abroad). I’m cheered on by my wonderful Foxlowe Creative Hub studio buddies and drawing tuition clients. Picked up by my headteacher, line manager, department teacher colleagues and teachers and students at Westwood College. Since taking the leap of faith and with encouragement of my family, I decided to follow my passion and become an impoverished loser. Yes, a professional black and white portrait artist. But my grit, determination and dare to dream of London exhibitions has led me into places and people in my hometown that seem to champion me and my ability to persist and perfect my brand of art. My network of business friends and clients in the town I love, Leek, have lifted me from obscurity into the occasional limelight of a London exhibition on the Mall. My mindset is clear and I am driven to follow my passion to draw and create my art.

So, the sentiments of relief, gratitude and love in this simple artwork, helped to reflect on my current health predicament and mental and often physical strain it is having on those around me. It rings so true and it salutes those incredible NHS staff at the Royal Stoke for their incredible professionalism, dedication, skill, due diligence. They represent all that is good and decent in Britain. This is hope.

To everyone, I know and love, thank you, thank you, thank you. I know “Kindness is Magic” and “It takes (monumental) strength to be gentle and kind”, that is for sure. Those who know me well (and there’s not many) will know the origins of these quotes and I’m happy to share these with anyone in person.

NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE, DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF ART.

IT CHANGES YOU IN WAYS YOU CAN BE UNPREPARED FOR. TODAY THIS VERY YOUNG PERSON DID THAT.

derek #rickygervais #kindnessismagic #royalstokeuniversityhospital #cancer #bowelcancer #bowelcanceruk #bowelcancerawareness #foxloweartscentre #sgfa #leekopenstudios #trinitybuoywharfdrawingprize #pastelsociety #leamingtonspaartgalleryandmuseum #staffordshireartists #mallgalleries #art #cardboardart

I am delighted to announce my portrait ‘Moment of Inertia’ has been selected for @leamspaartgallery Open 2022 Exhibition.

The show is an eclectic mix of artistic forms featuring sculpture, photography, installation, computer generated imagery, textiles and… my pencil drawing too!

The LSAG&M exhibition opens to the public Friday 7th October and runs through to Sunday 8 January 2023.

leamingtonspaartgalleryandmuseum #parkerharris #sgfa #drawingsociety #pastelsociety #mallgalleries #trinitybuoywharfdrawingprize #foxloweartscentre #westwoodcollege

Studio 6, Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek ST13 6AD

Drawing portraits, landscapes, still-life, Anime and more. Explore that creative journey in a warm and supportive studio environment with me, Gavin Bowyer, contemporary figurative artist, featured in the Trinity Buoy Prize 2021-22 exhibition.

Alas, like all good things they must pass. 9 months have passed, three exhibitions in London, Trowbridge and Dundee, and a total of 1100 miles travelled since I received the news my pencil portrait drawing of my wife, Jayne, had been selected for the UK’s most important prize for contemporary drawing: the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2021.

This distinction is a significant milestone in any artist’s career and I know I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the help, support, and encouragement from all my family, friends and followers along the way. I would like to thank the organisers of this incredible open exhibition of drawing. It has been an honour and a pleasure to have my artwork, ‘Moment of Inertia’, to share wall space with such talented drawing artists.

I still wonder how I made it through the selection process. You may recall that 3,300 entries from 1,673 artists and makers, 101 drawings by 89 creatives were selected for the 2021 exhibition. The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize has an established reputation as the UK’s most important annual open exhibition of drawing. Happily, I will soon be reunited with my portrait of Jayne. Returned home to Studio 6 in the Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek. If you wish to take a closer look you can contact me, either: 07592 779968 or gavinbowyer45@gmail.com