Strange & Sometimes Troubled Memories

Strange & Sometimes Troubled Memories is a series of twenty one paintings I completed between 2021 - 2023.
For each painting I conjure up a memory which has impacted my life in some way, then turn it around in my mind until I come up with a composition.
It delves into themes of growing up in poor conditions in the north of England in the 1970's and 80's, feeling alien on this planet, being mentally unwell, drug and alcohol problems, self harm and the struggle to make a better life.
It all started when I did a little painting depicting the last time I saw my Dad.
I decided to write a short blog post telling the story behind it and I was overwhelmed with the response I received.
People seemed to really resonate with what I painted and wrote and some even contacted me to open up about their experiences in life.
It made me realise that when you paint something from the heart that tells a very human story, other people connect with it on a deeper level even if their lives were very different, and that spurred me on to create this series.
You can see images and read the stories behind the paintings in my BLOG if you scroll down to the 'Broken Man' blog post that's where it starts. You can also see images of the 21 paintings at the bottom of this page.

Then to my surprise and excitement in 2023 I was approached by filmmaker Jason King who wanted to make a documentary about my work.

The Documentary

Trailer

In 2023 I was approached by Jason King, a filmmaker who was interested in doing a documentary about me and my work.

He didn't have a solid plan at that point of which direction to go in but wanted to know if I'd be open to doing something a bit different.

Once he saw the idea behind the 'Strange & Sometimes Troubled Memories' series, he knew that's the direction he wanted to take the documentary.

We hit it off straight away and I couldn't believe that not only did someone want to make a film about my work but they wanted to make an 'off the wall', unusual documentary about the stories behind my art, I was so thrilled.

At every stage we got along and I was so happy with how Jason worked and how his ideas evolved, it was an amazing experience for me to witness the film coming to life.

Now we both can't wait to get the film out into the world and around the film festivals.

Jason had had success at film festivals in the past winning multiple awards.

We are currently running a Crowdfunder campaign to raise funds which will help to make this dream a reality.

Please have a read about the project there, even if you can't donate at this time it would be good to get feedback.

If you know of anyone who would be interested in this project, or can help with fundraising, please pass on the information to them.

here is the link:

Crowdfunder

You can check out my YouTube videos and socials here.

Jason's Website

Film Website

Some stills from the film