Andy Wood Biography - in English

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Andy Wood R.I. R.B.A.

Born in Porlock, Somerset, Andy Wood spent his formative years in Surrey. He studied painting at Croydon and Newport Colleges of Art, gaining a degree in Fine Art (Painting) and Film in 1970. Having left art school he had many different jobs before becoming a full time artist. Starting out as an assistant school caretaker he soon moved on to become a stage electrician at the London Palladium where, amongst other duties, he maintained the theatre's famous revolving stage; operated the central stage lift; and worked with lighting and sound during performances. This was followed by a period living in Snowdonia, North Wales, designing posters and programmes for pop concerts. Then a year helping to build a children's arts centre, teaching arts and crafts, and working with a "Theatre in Education" drama group in Sussex. After which he moved back to London where he ran an arts centre and worked on adventure playgrounds in Hammersmith. In 1977, after a year at teacher training college in Twickenham, he moved to Dorset to concentrate on painting full-time. While living in Charmouth he joined the Dorset Fire & Rescue Service as a Retained Firefighter and continued in the fire service until 2002. In 1996 he opened the Andy Wood Gallery in Lyme Regis which showed his paintings and prints as well as the work of other artists and friends. In 2002 he moved to Rye in East Sussex. As a member of both the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours and the Royal Society of British Artists he regularly exhibits in their annual shows at the Mall Galleries, London. His work has also featured in numerous exhibitions in England, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada and the United States of America. Andy Wood's paintings are in the collections of His Majesty the Sultan of Oman, the Central Carolina Bank, the Chelsea Arts Club, the Lyme Regis Museum and Duke University. For extra information please take a look at the more detailed C.V.

The Pictures

Andy Wood's paintings are representational and highly detailed in a photo-realist style. Much of his subject matter is taken from his local area, the beach and the sea feature prominently. Also his travels, particularly in Europe and the USA, have provided material for many paintings. There is a strong landscape element in his work although the paintings often include buildings and people and he seems to favour man-made landscape rather than nature-in-the-raw. He paints in watercolours, acrylics and oils. As well as his own work he also undertakes commissions on a variety of subjects. The reproductions of the paintings and prints on this web site are scanned from photographs. Colours may vary from those of the original paintings and prints. Dimensions quoted are of the image size in inches and are approximate.