Northern Soul

Northern Soul. I have been obsessed with Northern Soul music, ever since I started to go out when I was growing up in the Midlands.

I listen to it every day. I used to go to Northern nights and plan to start again soon to make a new set of paintings. For now I have concentrated on my own personal experience of listening to the music I love and sometimes (often) dancing around on my own.

The self portrait I am showing at the Ruth Borchard Prize in London depicts me dancing alone in my studio. In the painting I try to capture my absorption in the music, and also to not shy away from the awkwardness of a man of advancing years dancing on his own in the middle of the day.

I am currently working in a series of works which explore the idea of dancing further; the motif presents particular challenges for me as I like to work from direct observation rather than from photography. The process is as slow as the music is fast.