From no where a memory can flood into you mind and transport you back to a moment long since forgotton. Suddenly, you can remember things so important and relevant to the now, that you question how you ever forgot them in the first place.
I was working as an assistant at The Blyth Gallery in Manchester in 2004. We had set up a painting commision for one of our clients with a local manchester artist. The client would call in enthusiastically from time to time for updates on the progression of his piece. The artist however, was in no hurry. Rome after all, was not built in a day.
This artist was a laid back, unassuming kind of bloke. I remember him coming into the gallery and, rather than some of the other arty-types who tended to swoosh into the building in the manner of the big 'I am', this guy could easily float under the radar. I didn't know much about his work then, and I recall a distinct nervousness on the day that our client arrived in the gallery, excited to finally be collecting his goods! I hoped to god he wouldn't be disappointed! The picture was revealed to our client at the same moment it was first revealed to me, and I literally felt my jaw drop.
Before me was a truly magnificent panoramic painting of an urban manchester scene, of a standard I hadn't ever seen before in our gallery. The client was obviously delighted . I remember he commented that although Liam had been commsioned to work from a photograph, the piece had a characteristic eerie yet beautiful quality to it, emphasised by the inclusion of a small but vivid rainbow, that lit the sky above the wet and dreary city below.
The artist was Liam Spencer, who since rose to become one of the Uk's brightest stars and a big name on the international art scene. He has had work commissioned by the arts council, worked in New York , Venice and Hong Kong, has his paintings permanently hung in Manchester Art Gallery and been featured on a BBC documentary .
I recalled all of this today , when in college we discussed our future pathways...What will we become? - Illustrators, Architects, Furniture Designers? Liam Spencer 's story was the example chosen to discuss the possiblilites open to those that would follow the Fine Art route. Through talent, hard work, business acumen and a little good luck, Spencer's name has become synonymous with success.
Liam continues to paint the enviroment around him, the buildings, the motorways and the canals of Manchester and Rossendale, with his own distinctive approach that has appealed to collectors across the world.
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| 'Odeon and Oxford Street' 2004 |
