Phil was born in Lancashire and grew up near Morecambe Bay. His experience of crossing the sands of the Bay at an early age kindled an enduring interest in the processes that shape the physical landscape.
With the background of a science degree and many years of drawing and painting, he pursued his interest at Hull College, School of Art and Design. When the college established a professional practice art collective, he became a member, spending a total of twelve years under the guidance of Andrew Fairbank, a practicing artist and graduate of Goldsmith's College. In 2020 Phil moved to York, where he now works from his home studio.
Phil explores shores, crags and quarries where the underlying rock is revealed. His drawings, watercolour sketches and cartographical studies provide him with a stock of memories and visual details. As a result, his studio-based oil paintings convey an intense sense of place. He paints at a range of scales, on canvas, board and aluminium.
He is currently working on a series of small paintings of the shores and sands of Morecambe Bay.
Solo exhibitions:
2019-2020: “Above and Below” (an investigation of the landforms and quarries of Coniston), Brantwood, Cumbria.
2017: “Solid Ground”, Brook Street Art, Hull.
2014: “Shaped by Ice” (Canadian glaciers and the Cumbrian glaciated landscape), Brantwood, Cumbria.
2011: “A Return to the Coast”, an Arts Council-funded touring exhibition and railway poster project in North Yorkshire and the East Riding.
2010: “Light, Rock, Water”, Brantwood, Cumbria.
Selected group exhibitions:
2021-present: Longitude Gallery, Clitheroe, Lancashire
2016: Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London
2015: BP North Sea headquarters, Aberdeen: private three-person exhibition (together with a sculptor and a photographer)
2015...2022: Maiden Bridge Galleries, Tatham, Lancashire: summer exhibitions
2012, 2015: 'Fabric of the Land' exhibitions, University of Aberdeen
2008...2023: Ferens Art Gallery, Hull: Open exhibitions
Corporate clients:
The Geological Society of London; Dana Oil