A deaf engineer, whose passion for art was reignited when he moved to rural Northumberland, has donated a portrait of Lord Beith to the former MP.
Philip Hull has painted Lord Beith in watercolour, his favoured medium for his specialist subjects of portraits, landscapes, owls and puffins.
Philip, who moved from Scarborough to Rock near Alnwick, five years ago, said: “Lord Beith went to school with one of my friends and I respect his record serving as our local MP for more than 40 years.
“He’s a really interesting character and it was a delight to paint him.”
Philip is a self-taught artist who planned to go to Art College at 17, but was held back by a lack of self-confidence. Deaf from birth, he had specialist speech therapy as a child but refused to wear a hearing aid because it made him feel self-conscious.
He put his artistic dreams on hold, training instead as an engineer and working as a precision toolmaker. However, the discovery of digital hearing aids when he was 30 changed his life.
“I was quiet and withdrawn, but now I’m not in the back row – I’m at the front, and life is wonderful,” said Philip.
“It really was a life-changing experience.”
Moving to Northumberland for the quality of life inspired Philip to pick up his paintbrushes again and he is now following his first love and building his business as an artist. He has completed a number of commissioned portraits of friends and family, and particularly enjoys combining portraits with landscapes, featuring the sitter in a place that is special to them.
His work was recently featured in The Art of Watercolour magazine, which printed his entry for its competition called Faith in Life. The portrait of an elderly clergyman received a special mention under ‘the jury loved section’, with the comment: ‘In this portrait, the artist has successfully captured the expression and emotion of the model, a tough task but well achieved.’
Philip said: “I specialise in watercolour portraits because it’s a wonderful medium for expressing skin tones and producing atmospheric effects.”
The move to Northumberland has also given him fantastic subject matter to work with, including the Farne Islands’ puffins, the coast, countryside and castles.
Philip sells pictures at the Art Café at Midstead near Rock and his work can also be viewed on his website philiphull.co.uk, where you can find out about commissioning your own watercolour portrait or landscape.
ENDS
Photo shows Lord Beith with the portrait and Phillip.
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