I like to begin the portrait process with an initial, consultation only, meeting in which the ideas of both parties regarding style and composition are discussed and agreed. Following this meeting, a minimum of three sittings is usually required. The first of these will be for the further development of ideas, preliminary drawings and photographs. Subsequent sittings are for the development of the painting and finishing touches. The subject should allow approximately two hours per visit for each sitting, which can be carried out in the sitter's home.  

ARTISTS STATEMENT

With his work, Alex Chamberlin tries to capture the middle ground between a portrait and a life study, and the intimacy that can arrive from that moment. He intends to allow the viewer to become familiar with the subject. Unlike straight studies, his paintings relate to the individual on a personal level.

His way of working has come about via a number of influences. He admires the work of J.W Waterhouse and his ability to capture a fleeting moment in a style only afforded by photography. He also respects the linear quality of Egon Schieles’ work and the structured brushstrokes of John Singer Sargent.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2004 Collins And Hastie, London
2003 Carlyle Gallery, London
2001 Collins and Hastie, London
2000 Bartley Drey Gallery, London

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2005 December Arts Unwrapped show
July Fine art Commissions 4 man show
June Chelsea Festival
May Mixed show, Jose Eastwood
February Spring light show, Webbs Gallery

2004 September autumn show Webbs Gallery
June Chelsea Art society
Not the turner prize, Mall Gallery

2003 November ‘The Thames’, Webbs Gallery
July Whistler exhibition at Carlyle Gallery
Summer show at Collins and Hastie
April Lighthouse auction at Christies
March Spring show at Thompson’s gallery, Stow on the Wold

2002 December Royal institute of oil painters
Group winter show at Carlyle Gallery
April Mixed exhibition. Collins and Hastie

2001 December Group winter exhibition at Carlyle Gallery
Group winter exhibition at Collins and Hastie
September Mixed Autumn show at Ainscough Fine Art
August Mixed Summer show at Bartley Drey Gallery
June Chelsea Art Society
Christies Group Auction, New York
May One man show, Collins and Hastie

2000 December Group exhibition at Bartley Drey Gallery, London
July Royal society of British painters
June Chelsea art society
Leighton House
April Short listed for Villiers David Travel scholarship
March One man show, Bartley Drey Gallery

1999 June Chelsea Art society
April Thomas’s school Battersea

1998 November First Prize Royal Institute of Oil Painters
May Everard read Gallery, South Africa (mixed)

1995 –1998 Army officer, the light Dragoons. Germany
1991 –1995 Fine Art, BA Hons Newcastle University
Hatton Gallery show. 2 two man long gallery shows
Cadogan contemporary gallery summer show (London)

Notes

2003 Awarded best painting prize in the annual Chelsea Art Society competition
Painting sold at Lighthouse Auction, Christies, London
Elected to the Art Happens committee, part of the Art Fund
2002 Featured in Men’s Journal, New York
2001 Artist in residence (teaching) Seville August – September
Painting sold in take home a nude, Christies, New York
Featured in wallpaper magazine, Tatler and London Magazine
2000 Featured in Wallpaper Magazine
Short-listed for Villiers David Prize
1998 First Prize in the Winsor and Newton section of the Royal institute of oil painters
Artist in residence at Habitat magazine, South Africa

Notable commissions, Terry Allen Kramer, Lord Rawlinson, Gavin Rankin, Jan Marie von Giebelhasuen, Major Charles Whitaker, Stephen Moss CBE, Cliveden House, Kate Winstanley

Articles in Wallpaper Magazine, Habitat Magazine, Mens Journal, London magazine, Tatler