Andrew Stock | Biography

Andrew Stock is a self-taught painter and printmaker. With the early encouragement of the late Sir Peter Scott he has been painting full time since leaving Sherborne School (Dorset) in 1978.

Working in water based media and oils, his subject matter has primarily been wildlife, especially birds, although in recent years he has been painting still lifes and landscapes with great success. Since 1991 etching has also formed an important part of his creative repertoire.

As well as regular visits to the Highlands, Andrew has spent considerable time in the Lot region of France. Meanwhile his fascination with India grows and he has recently returned from his second trip to Uttaranchal, having previously visited Kerala and Rajasthan. India has considerably broadened Andrew's portfolio, and his exhibitions now include paintings and etchings of street scenes, landscapes, figures and shipping as well as the birdlife. It is however, the Highlands and more especially the contrasting beauty and wilderness of the Outer Hebrides that remain a constant pull and an annual pilgrimage. It is here that he was first inspired to paint the north Atlantic and the seabirds that delight in the turbulent surf.

Andrew is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) and following in the late Sir peter Scott’s footsteps is now the elected President of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA). As well as exhibiting regularly in London he has a growing international following with collections in India, Oman and the USA. He has won many art prizes including the coveted British Birds ‘Bird Illustrator of the Year’ in 1995.

Andrew’s etchings are included in his solo exhibitions, the annual Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and Royal Society of Painter-printmakers (RE) shows, and in many regional exhibitions. They have also been exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

He has lived in Dorset for the last twenty years and works from his studio in the hamlet of Ryme Intrinseca, near Sherborne.

Artist Statement

It is the contrasting beauty and wilderness of the Outer Hebrides that remains a constant pull for Andrew; it is there, while lobster potting in a very small boat on a very big North Atlantic swell that he was first inspired to paint the sea pictures. a theme that he finds constantly challenging and exciting.
“To capture the sea’s abstract fluidity demands a loosening of style and I find myself spattering and smudging the paints in an attempt to create disorder and motion. Whether in a small boat in the North Atlantic or walking on Chesil Beach in Dorset, my approach is the same: I watch, make some brief colour sketches, and then, back in the studio, I try to recall what I’ve seen. The bigger, heaving seas have great appeal. They are remorseless in their repetitiveness. The walls of moving water, their surfaces dancing with fleeting, intricate patterns of sunlight and wind, draw out the fearless sea birds into their midst. Gannets patrol the froth and spray undaunted, Herring Gulls constantly and effortlessly scavenge, Fulmars delight in the high winds and Skuas (Jaegers) chase down the Terns. I hope my sea paintings convey some of the dread and excitement that I feel as I watch.”
Andrew Stock