MA(RCA); in Fine Art, from the Royal College of Art .  My tutors were Peter Blake and Leonard Rosoman (BA. 1ST. CLASS HONS. PAINTING).

In 1994 I was chosen to be Bedfordshire’s ‘Touring Artist’.  

My award-winning series of 22 paintings is also on display in Leighton Buzzard Children’s library (as well as online www.artuk.org).

My paintings, all figurative, are about the experience of looking and seeing.  I want my paintings to make people look again and again.  I have used various techniques to achieve this.  The reason for doing this is to physically, mentally and spiritually engage viewers in order to improve people’s psychic condition. When viewing the paintings, I want a sense of wonder to be engaged, like an infant awakening to the world.  In so doing with the actual painting, there is an exchange of energy between the chemical, electrical and particle components of the mind, the painting and the universe.  This happens best by looking at the physical painting.

My subject matter is my response to my encounters with life.  My paintings do not just have a life of their own, but are alive.  I want them to exude light and life, as if being a source of both.  That is the driving force behind each work.  I am after a mystical and a poetic response to the world around me.  By immersion in the study of the subject and the magical interpretation of it through paint, the painting, peace can be brought to the mind of the viewer.

My main interest is in people, particularly those around me, and their impact on the world.  The path that we all travel in life is my pre-occupation.  It’s not what you can do for my paintings.  It’s what my paintings can do for you.

I gained a BA 1st Class Honours in Painting in 1970 and the MA from the Royal College of Art in 1973.

My nationally recognized achievement was the creation of the award winning frieze of 22 paintings for Leighton Buzzard Children's Library Bedfordshire.  The 22 paintings of my 'Just Imagine', award winning, series in Leighton Buzzard Children's Library can be seen at www.artuk.org , Stephen Macphail.

I was Bedfordshire's first touring artist in 1994.

I do accept commissions.

I have work in several private and public collections.

I am also an internationally published author of twelve books.

In my paintings I always try and portray my own experiences and feelings about life (“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary”, Pablo Picasso). I have learned that these portrayals have resonance with other people, and that people have sought comfort, peace, happiness and reassurance from my paintings.

Just because something has been painted or made; just because it can be talked about or analysed; just because it is unusual or new; just because it is on television or in the media; do any of these things make it Art? A painting is only Art when the spirit of the viewer is moved, or when the vital spirit of the artist, who created the work, is imparted to it, and felt by the viewers. “The aim of Art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance” Aristotle.

There are some people who are interested in paintings, and there are others that have no interest, but for both parties, looking at paintings can benefit their psyche. The interpretation of the subject in paint is the transforming magic, linking seeing with the mystery of our unique feelings.

“In painting, when you know where you are going, you are on the wrong track”-Stephen W. MacPhail. Working from my imagination, often intuitively, has rewarded me with surprising outcomes.

Over my lifetime, I have produced work that has attempted, in different ways, to engage the spectator. (These series can be seen in the albums on my website.) Intelligence is as varied as people. Expression of the intellect through visual means is the purpose of the visual artist. It is just as important as any other intellect, and more durable when expressed perfectly. After all, how many scientific ‘facts’ have been disproved?

My approach to painting is that of the Chinese ‘literati’, who were renowned for individuality of ideas, and using a range of techniques suitable for delivering those ideas, often adapting styles from the past. My hard-won concepts were preceded in the 5th. century AD in China by the artist Hsieh-ho. The artist Ching-Hao in the 10th. century AD, said, “The defects (in a painting) due to a lack of ch’i yun render compositions bizarre and dead, however good a technician the painter may be. Moreover, ...the painter can do nothing to repair

his mistakes. But if the composition has ch’i yun and is, therefore, a work of art, simple defects of ability do not spoil it.” (ch’i means vital or universal spirit and yun means resonance or harmony.) Not all paintings by famous Western artists have ‘ch’I yun’ and, so, fall short.

As an individualist, working in the Chinese tradition, the method I have used is‘direct painting’. I ponder an idea for a time, and when it is formed in my mind, I paint it. Occasionally, I rework my paintings, and refer to visual information, but on most occasions, the picture appears in my mind, and evolves as I work.

“The Arts valuable role in mental health is being recognised... Art engagement also alleviates anxiety, depression and stress.” www.mentalhealth.org.uk. I have tried to give comfort and optimism. “Looking at a painting can disperse troubling thoughts, as the sun can clouds” -Stephen W. MacPhail. This is why I would like my works to be seen and shown. Let’s restore the soul of Painting.