My name is Paul Harding. I'm an artist living near Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in the north west of England. My interest in art began during my schooldays during the late 1960s through into the early 1970s. Although at that time I had much enjoyment from this, and a modicum of success, I only began painting seriously a few years ago. 

Whilst the nature of my artwork has naturally evolved over time I have always kept my focus on a narrative representational style. In my paintings I endeavour to capture elements of two crucial aspects of human experience, memory and time. The fusion of these two elements encourages that most important and infinitely dynamic creation of the human mind- story-telling. It was an appreciation of the works of Edward Hopper and Jack Vettriano that brought me to this need to express memory and imagination as stepping-stones to story-telling. More recently I have derived much inspiration from the paintings of a Californian artist, R Kenton Nelson. His bold use of colour and unusual viewpoints I find extremely invigorating.

Within my paintings I aim to construct a strong narrative theme by a weaving together of time, place and event. Selecting an appropriate title is often the key by which I lock these features together. This gives the viewer a sense of direction in which he or she may relate more closely to the image. I would like to think that the viewer would then enjoy speculating on the human dynamic motivating the scene, and perhaps create their own version of the story and its destination.

My images are set in the past, anytime from the 1920s onwards, although recently I have begun to concentrate on the period from around 1960 to 1980. Perhaps a sense of nostalgia has provided impetus to this transition. I find especially interesting how inspiration can be gained both from essentially personal memories and from what might be termed 'cultural' memories embracing aspects of film, television and music of that period. As the built environment always has elements of past styles still extant, and the popular media harks back to previous eras, there is opportunity to plunder not only the obvious inspirations of, say, classic cars and the glorious(?) fashions of the 1970s, but also encompass such joys as Art Deco architecture and the legacy of Film Noir.

I often work with a writer associate who provides additional material to support my paintings. Further inspiration, together with much assistance and encouragement, has come from my friends in a local drama group who have posed for my work. Over time I would like to extend the interaction of my artwork with written and performance media as I am particularly interested in the resulting story-telling dynamic. I like to see my artwork as a starting point for viewers to develop their own ideas as to "what's the story?", using whatever media they see as appropriate. Does the painting represent the beginning, the middle, or the end of a story? Whose story is being told anyway? It can be particularly illuminating to get alternative views on a scene, especially from opposing male and female standpoints. I have a fascination with the seemingly endless ways in an image can be given dynamism, life and movement from the construction of a story around it.

As part of my interest in further developing the wider story-telling element of my paintings I've set up a blog along with my writer associate aimed at stimulating a variety of creative responses. If you like a particular picture and would like to respond on the blog, please feel free to get in touch.

The majority of the paintings shown in the gallery section are available to purchase from myself. As buying original artwork is such a very personal experience I feel that it is inappropriate to offer sale by mail order. I sell my paintings directly to clients who visit my premises to view the originals in their "natural environment". Prices are available on request. Should you require any further information please send me a message using the 'contact' option.