Charles Brooking held a one-man exhibition of his paintings at St Mary’s Centre, Lion Street last weekend September 24/25. Here he tells how he came to be an artist.
I grew up in Rye and my first jobs were here. Then I went to London for work and after three years I left there to travel. I returned to get more work in London and stayed there for decades, returning to Rye a lot as my parents and friends were here. I never had a well-paid job so reasoned that if that would always be the case, then I may as well do what I really wanted to do, and that was to paint.
I was not allowed to paint at school and almost all I learned was self-taught. Three years ago I published a book on my travels in Latin America, called “A tumbleweed tour through Latin America” (can be found on www.lulu.com). I came back to Rye to look after my mother for a few years. She died in December 2014 and in March last year I returned to London.
I’m a furniture maker by trade and built a shed-cum-studio in London where I paint. I miss Rye and the people I know here and come back to it frequently. I find the sea the most challenging of subjects to paint, not only in trying to still a moving subject but to also endorse it with life and atmosphere. But I’m not one who can easily be satisfied sticking to one thing and I like to spend time painting other subjects. I do, however, stick to oil paint for its versatility compared to the other mediums. The exhibition I had here last year encouraged me to hold another show this year. I think the quality of paintings has risen with the greater time I’ve spent on them and I realise from the audience that the subject of water must be where I should focus the bulk of my work.
Photo: Kenneth Bird