Paul Coventry-Brown

During my five years at Dick Blick I had the pleasure of being around art supplies and catalogs. In fact, Blick puts out many fliers each year and one of my jobs as a Shipping Assistant was to Fed Ex boxes of catalogs and supplementals to retail stores and organizations around the country.

In one of Blick's sales ads they featured artists who used Blick materials. One of them really appealed to me, a certain Paul Coventry Brown, an Englishman living in France, who used Blick's hardboards as a painting surface. Coventry-Brown is what is known as a hyper-realist style of painter; his works are photo real. He uses ordinary items in his still lifes such as lemons, cups and the like. If I could be any type of painter, I'd want to be a realist.

I am on his mailing list so when he does a batch sometimes he lists them on Ebay. Usually they are out of my price range, but recently I spotted one of his new ones that I almost could afford. I put in a bid and fully expected to be out of the running quickly but the world must have been dozing and I was the winner.

This was the write-up:

Tangerines (oil on panel): 12 x 9 inches

The painting is unframed but I can have it framed if anyone is interested but I will need about 10 - 14 days extra.

My name is Paul Coventry-Brown and I'm from Liverpool in the UK and I am a self taught artist.
I spent 17 years working in Japan before settling down in S. W. France 7 years ago to become a full time artist. I have always been more drawn to the old masters like Vermeer, Caravaggio and Velazquez as far as my painting style goes but I love art in all it's forms.

I have had some great opportunities with commissions from Winsor & Newton (UK), Blick Art Supplies (USA) and my work being bought by galleries in Las Vegas, Connecticut, Sacramento and Newcastle (UK).

Thank you for looking.

Huh? Imagine an old Midwestern hick like me with a Coventry-Brown. I'll find a nice place on the wall for it, and tell the kids not to throw it away when I'm gone.

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