Porthcurnick: beach study 8 Painting

John Birch studied Fine Art at the West of England College of Art (now part of the University of the West of England). After graduating he remained in Bristol continuing to paint and had one man exhibitions at the Axis Gallery, Clifton and at the Bristol Arts Centre. He also took part in group exhibitions at the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol and the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham. He then spent the rest of his career as a graphic designer and only recently started painting again after moving to Cornwall in 2013. He quickly became immersed and strongly influenced by the Cornish landscape. Starting to paint again after a break of 40 years he began work on a series of studies of large pebbles found on the local beach at Porthcurnick. Moving on from this he continued working on the shoreline with paintings of abandoned boats rotting away in the backwaters of the Fal estuary. And later, the fishing boats in the small Porth (harbour) at Portscatho. He is an associate member of Penwith Society of Artists and also exhibits regularly at the New Gallery, Portscatho.