Steven Outram RBA

Statement

Beauty and feeling are currently unfashionable in some art circles. But Outram’s paintings are about both - the inherent beauty in everyday surroundings and its power to make people reflect. Unlike the Impressionists whose purpose was to capture a moment in time, Outram aims to create a timeless moment.

Methodology

Outram’s subject of mood through atmosphere comes from his lifetime habit of neighbourhood walks, and the absorption of familiar forms in varied moods created by light and time of day. Different aspects of the day - dusk’s possibilities, the obscurities of mist, and night’s suggested profundity have become his imagination’s canvas. 

Without need for sketching or photography, Outram’s conscious use of memory and re-living of thoughts and feelings combine and evolve over days or weeks, crystallising into a strong mental visualisation of a painting.

The work is usually oil on linen canvas or panel executed in his studio. Painting is mainly brushwork with frequent use of rag, knife and fingers, the texture being dictated by the subject. Mood is expressed through colour and complex subtlety of form, aiming for a state of contemplation or reverie. 

Bio

1953 Born in Dartford, Kent.

1973 Started exhibiting works before graduation from Medway College of Art in the same year.

1973 Became a self-supporting full-time painter with several one-man shows in central London and continuing mixed exhibitions to the present.

2003 Elected member, Royal Society of British Artists, winning numerous awards.