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Mick Cawston
If
you were to meet Mick Cawston walking down the path towards you in his old
battered jacket, his hair down to his shoulders and his knee hanging out of his
jeans you would be forgiven for not realising that he is one of the finest dog
painters working in the world today. His work is comparable to that of John Emms
or Maude Earl and he works equally well in oils, acrylics, water colours or
pastels. No matter what breed of dog he portrays the character and likeness of
the dog are always superb. Many of his works have been reproduced as limited
edition prints and for the last two years he has been voted, in the Fine Art
Trade Guild survey, as one of the top selling artists. Born in 1959, in Dagenham, Essex. His father teaches and
translates the deaf and dumb language for the police. He was educated at the
Robert Clack comprehensive school and it was here that he won his first
exhibition, at the age of seven. On leaving school he trained as a cabinet maker
before signing up in the army for three years. There, amongst other things, he
did a six month tour in Northern Ireland. After the army he spent six months
working as a motorcycle messenger in London, earning himself enough money to
spend a few months touring Europe. Throughout all this time his passion for drawing grew
stronger and on returning from Europe he spent six months sketching people's
children on the pavements of Covent Garden, in pastel at £3 a time. From here a
London silversmith employed him to design silverware, largely for the Arab
market. However, interesting as this was, it was never Mick's great passion and
before very long he moved away from London and spent the next three years living
in a small cottage on a farm in Burnham on Crouch and returned to selling his
work on the streets, although this time his price had gone up to £18 a drawing. Despite his price increase he could not make a living and
as a result he started to paint seriously in Sally Mitchell and by the end of
this year he had his first two limited edition prints published after his work. He was featured by Gundogs magazine in 1996 as one of the leading dog artists. Later in the year one of his pictures was featured on the cover of this magazine. In 1996, Mick celebrated the publication of his 200th
print, entitled "Wildlife 200", which is a wonderful composite picture
of British wildlife. The painting was used in a children's competition, run by
the national magazine "Shooting Times", for young children to name all
the animals in the picture. The original painting, an oil on canvas, 24 inches x
36 inches has been donated to the Animal Health Trust and will be auctioned in
1997 to raise funds. The first time he exhibited at the Society of Equestrian
Artists in London, with only the second horse picture he had ever painted, he
won the award for the best newcomer. The next year he was awarded full
membership. His original
paintings are widely collected and his pictures hang in collections in many
countries, including Sweden, Australia, Germany, Kenya, Japan, America and of
course, England. Mick paints a few commissions each year. You can find Mick at : Heatherside, Brenden Manor, Nr Lynton, North Devon. Phone: 01598 741316 for further examples of Mick's Work: This Website has been built &
designed by Glenn, who would be delighted to carry out private commissions.
glenn@glennotto.com
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