About Gary Long
Gary Long's process and practice is one of developing connections and relations. Inspired by the abstract expressive post-war artists. Long's painting is built from observation, intuition and memory.
Now settled in West Cornwall where familiar sites and people form the basis of his work. Places that he has visited repeatedly over a number of years - the famous harbour at Porthleven, Tresco Island or the rooftops of St Ives - are described through a deep understanding of the landscape and history of the area.
Once this connection is developed, his works are created at speed; pushing and pulling paint across the canvas, working impressively in thick layers of impasto oil paint. The surface of the painting is as important as its contents with rough textures mirroring the wild landscapes of West Penwith.
The confidence with which Long applies paint has been developed over years of working as a commercially successful illustrator. Having studied at Birmingham School of Art and then at Manchester College of Arts, School of Advanced Studies. Long worked for a number of major national and international publishers; living and working in Toronto and Vancouver, before eventually settling in the West country and then in Cornwall.