At the age of nine I first experimented with oil paints under the kind and careful tutelage of my Maths teacher (bizarrely) Hedley Moore. I was hopeless at Maths but had some facility for art, and some of what he taught me must have stuck, because over forty years later - after a career in business, but absolutely no formal art training - here I am painting like crazy.
What started as a hobby in my spare time suddenly became more than that when I had a painting accepted to the Royal Academy`s Summer Exhibition in 2012. This shocked me into doing what family and friends had long suggested, and attempt to sell my art. So I quit my job, and took up painting!
My first solo art exhibition at the Tokyo American Club in 2016 was a great success "the best ever at the Club" I was told, with most paintings finding a home. Since then I have been busy with private commissions.
My work is realistic in style - and I tend to work from digital photographs that I take on my i-phone when out and about.
The thing I like to do best is to paint portraits in a way that captures the character of the sitter. This often involves `props` (as in a treasured personal possession) or a resonant background (such as a room in a house, or a favourite outside setting). My cityscapes and my golf paintings are also very popular.I hope you enjoy the work featured here. Please feedback with your comments, or if you are interested in commissioning something check out the `commission` section of this site (sub head under `portraits` and under `golf`) and then e-mail me at simon.j.dalby@gmail.com. Paintings featured on this site which are for sale are captioned accordingly.
Oh, and thank you, Hedley Moore...
What started as a hobby in my spare time suddenly became more than that when I had a painting accepted to the Royal Academy`s Summer Exhibition in 2012. This shocked me into doing what family and friends had long suggested, and attempt to sell my art. So I quit my job, and took up painting!
My first solo art exhibition at the Tokyo American Club in 2016 was a great success "the best ever at the Club" I was told, with most paintings finding a home. Since then I have been busy with private commissions.
My work is realistic in style - and I tend to work from digital photographs that I take on my i-phone when out and about.
The thing I like to do best is to paint portraits in a way that captures the character of the sitter. This often involves `props` (as in a treasured personal possession) or a resonant background (such as a room in a house, or a favourite outside setting). My cityscapes and my golf paintings are also very popular.I hope you enjoy the work featured here. Please feedback with your comments, or if you are interested in commissioning something check out the `commission` section of this site (sub head under `portraits` and under `golf`) and then e-mail me at simon.j.dalby@gmail.com. Paintings featured on this site which are for sale are captioned accordingly.
Oh, and thank you, Hedley Moore...
Azabudai Noon: old TAC. Sold December 2016
Launch party at `Japan Paintings` solo exhibition at The Frederick Harris Gallery, Tokyo