David Pinegar

David Pinegar was born in 1959 in a small Derbyshire village. His diverse career experiences have been shaped by the interests and passions he developed at different moments in his lifetime. His countryside upbringing was his solace and playground to which his imagination flourished. He overcame shyness and inability to grasp the teaching methods of the time. He sat in the classroom and dreamt of being a farmer. Yes, a farmer and not an artist! He became a farmer and loved it. But in his mid-twenties he bought a camera. And from that moment onwards, he knew he would capture magic. After teaching himself the art of photography and developing a newfound passion for it, he became a full-time professional photographer. Starting at a local agency, he quickly became a sports photographer and took to it instinctively. It led to thirty years of enjoyment and the opportunity to travel the world. But more importantly, it fed his overactive imagination and thirst for new visual experiences. David is proud of his achievements as a self-taught photographer. But ten years ago he became restless with a lack of creative control over the subjects he worked on. This was the catalyst of his personal and determined journey to create a new art form, one which energises him and hopes will inspire others. From his perspective as a photographer, the mind-blowing volume of imagery on the internet had desensitised his interest in photographs. As a result he started capturing images he had not experienced or seen before. Changing his approach as a photographer, David began to think like an artist. This meant he could leave former creative restrictions behind, draw on his childhood dream-like imagination, and realise anything was possible. So David started his project “Wall Of Colour”. In his creative career, he has never tried to emulate past masters and was not going to start now. His goal was, and still is to surprise himself with new and vibrant imagery, and to share his experiences with fellow art lovers. He visits local second-hand shops, to seek out interesting bric-a-brac to photograph. Then carefully arrange a selection of them in various colours and textures on a large light box. He surrounds the “stage” as he calls it (light box) with different types of material drops in various textures, ranging from velvet to reflective gift wrapping paper. He also places various mirrors as a forward extension to the stage. With the stage set, he moves on to the technical side of the operation. David has pioneered a technique he calls 'Gelism’. The idea was conceived by using the glass of an old 10” x 8” picture frame and applying men's hair gel to it with an artist’s palette knife. Next, instead of glass, he experimented by stretching industrial clingfilm over the frame and applying sellotape strips over it for extra texture. The camera is the final part in capturing an image for the postproduction stage using a powerful computer. The process of capturing a vibration-flowing mass of colour in the camera is magical and amazes David each time he takes a new image. Post-production starts by selecting and stitching together images that work well together. This creates a coherent master image, and then using his imagination, the finished piece emerges. His work reflects who and what he wants to be as a person. He is driven to challenge the status quo and thrives on reaching out to the new frontiers of the creative 21st-century world. Over the last six years, David transitioned from a photographer to a self-taught abstract artist, and in doing so pioneered a new and unique style. His ambition is for observers of his images to instinctively identify them as one by the artist David A Pinegar