Ben Southern

Ben Southern's first solo exhibition is taking place at Tore Art Gallery from June 26th 2011 until early August. All Ben's new paintings are shown here on this page.

Ben Southern trained in the early sixties at Burnley School of Art, then at Leeds School of Art. He taught for 30 years in several different schools then worked at St Martin's College for ten years. He exhibited his work in Yorkshire and Lancashire before retiring to Fortrose on the Black Isle.

"After working almost exclusively in watercolour or acrylic, I am now enjoying the painterly properties of gouache. The Black Isle provides me with endless subject matter in all seasons and weather. I am particularly fascinated by sunlight and how it can change a mundane scene into a magical one, how the patterns of light and shadow turn to abstraction."

Ben has run a Life Drawing group for local artists for a number of years, and now spends most of his time painting. 

Ben is an artist living in Fortrose on the Black Isle. Already known as a watercolour painter, he has also worked in acrylics, and in recent work has turned to the medium of gouache. Ben's subject matter is often the landscape of the Black Isle, where he finds endless variety and inspiration.