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Roy Fairchild-Woodard was born in 1953 in Surrey, England. Committed to his vocation since adolescence, Fairchild's desire to paint remains as resolute as in his early days in Surrey, when he would spend hours alone drawing and building models. Says the artist, "I always knew art was my life." When he was 16, Fairchild began studying technical illustration. After earning a degree in graphic design, he set up his own studio. He became a successful free-lance illustrator and was commissioned by publishers and advertising agents for record sleeves, books, and advertisements, as well as for decorative serigraphs and lithographs. It was at this time that Fairchild experimented and developed different techniques to obtain qualities of light and color which is characteristic of his work today. Fairchild's vision is inflluenced by painters of the Renaissance, and by visits to Italy where he studied frescoes, tapestries and paintings. In addition, his admiration of artists such as Egon Shiele and Gustav Klimt can be seen in occasional references of line and decoration in his work, but he extends their techniques producing something altogether bolder and more contemporary. He has incorporated all these influences resulting in creations where surfaces are luminous, rich, sumptuous. The crumbling plasterwork of ancient frescoes are also alluded to in his use of plaster as a base for acrylic and oil overpainting. Today, Fairchild lives and works most of the year in his country home in England. This peaceful environment is fundamental to his well being and stability as an artist, although he spends some of his time traveling through Europe to obtain new sources of inspiration. |