TOM BENJAMIN N.E.A.C.

Born in 1967 Tom initially trained at Brighton Polytechnic, going on to study Fine Art at Norwich School of Art.  He has taught at West Dean College and was elected as a member of the New English Art Club in 2021.  His paintings evidence his skill in capturing natural light and changing conditions on a confident but accurate painterly surface using the subtle tonal palettes and colour combinations of the natural world.  
“I am committed to the practice of plein air painting. The sense of the subject being about to slip away as the light changes lends the working process a sense of urgency. I am often drawn to subjects which have a sense of slippage such as the coast where wet mud or rock pools gives way to water which reflects the sky, or woods where light falling on a visual tangle creates tension between the form and weight of the subject and the play of light which both reveals and disguises it. I tend to produce a group of paintings in each location and there are some places I have been working in for many years. Paintings are sometimes completed in a single session but more often I return to them, aiming to carry on when the light and weather are similar. I paint quickly and relish the improvisations required by painting in front of a quickly changing subject.”