Michael Finlay

I had two paintings shortlisted for the Royal Academy of Arts – Summer Exhibition 2019. Machine Learning and Are we Connected? Both responding to themes of identity and environment.

You can watch a video about my journey as an artist here:

I am a film industry veteran having worked for over 50 years in the British film industry as a scenic painter on productions including Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars, Return of the Jedi.

Each of my unique paintings is inspired by one of the many productions I have worked on during my long career. They are at times sensual, evocative, dramatic and inspired by fantasy.

As a boy growing up in the little village of Elstree in Hertfordshire all I ever wanted to do was paint. I left school in 1963 at the age of 15. My father was a scenic painter in the film industry and helped me get a job as an apprentice scenic painter at Elstree Studios, the British Hollywood. It was a five-year apprenticeship during which I was taught the art of set painting for film and television. Elstree Studios was a magical place to work. To be among so many artistically talented people was an incredible privilege. I worked alongside artists, sculptors, metal workers, lighting cameramen, famous directors, actresses, actors and special effects people. The first productions I started working on were TV series like The Avengers, The Saint, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and The Champions. Then down the line, I worked on Hammer films like One Million Years B.C., The Devil Rides Out, Mask of the Red Death, Frankenstein, and Dracula. Later in the 1980s, I would work on the first and second of the Indiana Jones films, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Return to Oz, Willow, and Highlander. I saw the great stars, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Mitchum, Betty Davis, Yul Brynner, Sophia Loren, Harrison Ford, the list goes on.

Royal Academy of Arts - Summer Exhibition 2019 (Two paintings shortlisted)