Good afternoon bloggers and welcome to another exclusive interview with one of my old friends Kris Hardy. Since Kris graduated from studying at the Royal College of Art in June 2002, Kris's canvas's have featured in various exhibitions, bars, show homes and salons worldwide.
Since 2003 Kris has been selling his exclusive artwork through John Lewis in over 22 of their stores nation wide.
Kris Painting for John Lewis
Not only is Kris doing what he loves on a daily basis but he is spreading his love of art to the next generation of young artists by occasionally dropping in to universities like Huddersfield as a visiting lecturer, which is where Kris and I first met. But let's get going and find out what makes Kris tick.
SoVibrant: " How did you get started and what inspired you to become a traditional canvas artist ? "
Kris: "I have always loved painting and drawing, it is something I have done in my spare time for as long as I can remember. My granddad was a really good oil painter so I grew up watching him paint. looking back at when I did my A-levels even on top of all the work for those I still managed to paint about an extra 3 hours a day. I was massively into Manga and Anime in the mid '90s and motorbikes, so all I wanted to paint and draw was, Japanese comic characters and bikes."
"I was basically doing my A-levels and didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life, art was always the only thing I loved and felt at home doing so I thought, right, I might as well do an art foundation course at a local college, it would be great to do a course where I can just draw all day. "
"Once on the course, the main push for the year was to get you to university, so I decided to have a look at the new transport design course at Huddersfield university, as my main passions were drawing/painting and motorbikes."
"After completing the course. I went onto the MA course at the Royal College of Art. When I left there I went to work at Lotus Cars, but while waiting for the project to come up, due to setbacks, it took nearly a year before I started I decided to get back into painting, which had taken a back seat during my car design years."
"I then decided I wanted to do this full time as it opened lots of different possibilities I had not thought about and also it just felt right, I felt at home painting. I started to supply John Lewis stores with originals and it basically went from there."
SoVibrant: " So what would you say is your favourite aspect of painting on canvas ? "
Kris: "I just love being able to do something every day that I love, painting is just so rewarding, especially when you paint a piece as a commission that is so personal to someone and they love it."
SoVibrant: " Who is your biggest inspiration right now and why ? "
Kris: "My main inspiration at the moment is Caravaggio, I love his use of light and shadow, but other influences are concept artist (and old student Jon McCoy, for his digital brush strokes and scale in his environments, as cityscapes are a subject I love to paint) Rolf Harris, again for his use of a brush, and ability to capture something in a couple of strokes, Jack Vettriano, for how he captures feelings in his work, Ian Mckeever, for his amazing depth and simplicity."
"Outside of artists, I am constantly inspired by contemporary architecture and beautiful women."
SoVibrant: " Out of everything you have created in the past what would you say is your favourite piece ? "
Kris: "They all mean a lot, and it constantly changes, but my current favourite painting is ‘How did I get here?’ it means a lot because not only do I like it as a painting, but it is of my wife and was just a random idea we had in a hotel while on a short weekend away at the hotel du vin in Newcastle."
SoVibrant: " Now I know that painting on canvas can take a hell of a lot longer than painting in Photoshop, but what do you do with any spare time you have ? "
Kris: "If I'm not painting I really only do two things, I am either walking my dog, Alfie, or I am at the gym, constantly pushing myself to be a better me, I think if you want to be the best you can, it has to apply to every aspect in your life, we only get one go at this, so i think we should make the most of it
SoVibrant: " And finally, Were would you love to be in 10 years time? "
Kris: "Ideally, I would love my work to be seen and known by as many people as possible."
Kris With Alfie
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