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paints. But once he gets going he will then spend a good eight hours a day at his canvas. He describes his work as eclectic pop art and has displayed his paintings in London and New York and at the prestigious BP National Portrait Award. “They get about 3,000 entries so to be chosen and have my work displayed at the National Portrait Gallery was pretty special.” He says the best bit about being an artist is that you can play all day at your own leisure. “The down side is that you sometimes get the equivalent of writers block. There’s no point sitting at a blank canvas and hoping for an idea to come. The best ideas hit you when you aren’t looking for them – whilst watching a title sequence in a film or when you spot a fuzzy image out of the corner of your eye.” He says he doesn’t think himself ‘high end’; he paints things that appeal to him, whether that’s a daisy in a glass or a woman with a surfboard at the beach, and he doesn’t expect people to stand in front of his pictures for hours pondering messages beneath. “I’m not looking for the meaning of life. I have no axe to grind. I leave all that to other people. I just paint things that interest me and


hope people will buy it.”


2018 has taken James in a slightly different direction. He has written and illustrated his first children’s book, which comes out in September. ‘There’s a hole in my garden’ is about a boy who finds a small hole in his back yard and experiments by throwing small things in like sweets. Then he


puts in bigger and bigger things until the hole is so big it can fit a dinosaur in. He first met his publisher during an exhibition in Battersea. “Her interest confused me at the time because my exhibition hardly leant itself to cute innocent children’s illustrations! But she had faith in me.” He gave her the initial storyline and pictures and her company changed them slightly and the words have been Americanised as it will be published there first. James is thrilled he has had the opportunity: “For an illustrator doing a children’s book is the pinnacle, it’s the ultimate dream – it’s like performing at Glastonbury for a singer.” He hopes this could lead to more children’s books in the future. www.jamesstewartart.co.uk Many of James’ paintings ara available from Coombe Gallery in Foss Street, Dartmouth 01803 835820 www.coombegallery.com


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