Freeing the Joy, Easing the Pain Painting

Award-winning artist Geoff Francis has been selected five times into the juried round in Saatchi Showdowns. His photography has also won awards. His work is attracting a keen interest and is considered very collectable. 'Of late, as I paint, words come into my head as clues to what the emerging painting is saying for me. When it has been finished some time later, perhaps, even immediately, the meaning comes clear. It's like looking back into a dream which has dredged itself from my subconscious. 'I have returned to experimenting with strong sculptural effects using the canvas and the paint. As always I make use of mainly reclaimed commercial paint which otherwise, if buried, would be a poison in the earth. This perhaps embodies the message of the painting in the medium.' Geoff's painting 'Imagine No John Lennon' won through to the second, juried, round of the Saatchi Abstract Showdown (March 2012), one of just 300 chosen from an initial 3300 entrants. His surreal painting 'Blind Cheetah with a Human Skin Coat' was just one of 300 selected out of more than 2200 entries in the first round of the Saatchi Surreal Showdown (July 2012). His photograph 'Chance Encounter on Kimmeridge Bay' was the winner of the Close Up Coast category in the Jurassic Coast Photography Award 2013. His photo 'Life Dance' was shortlisted in the prestigious Thames 21 Photography Award 2013 and has been exhibited in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Geoff's photo 'Reflections in TIme' won through to the juried round in the Saatchi Showdown 'Bright Lights Big City' in May 2013. His painting 'Nature's Reclamation' made it to the top 10% in the Back to Nature Saatchi Showdown in August 2013. Geoff Francis has been a full time artist for over 30 years. The bold but irresistible step of becoming an artist at the age of 40 allowed him the confidence in the uniqueness of his own and interesting eye, giving him freedom from the constraints and limitations of more conventional avenues. This vision can be seen in his work with both canvas and camera. Geoff brings a particular emotion and depth to his art, whether through the lens or with paint, which is why it has often found a place in the home of other celebrated artists and performers. Some have found resonances in his images with expressionist and impressionist artists such as Turner, Rothko, Freud, Chagall and Bacon. His work has a strong following.