Duncan Tinkler

Duncan Tinkler came to painting for two reasons, and both of them are more interesting than "I fancied a new hobby." His eldest daughter Xanthe was developing a serious interest in art, and he wanted to keep up with her, maybe even teach her a thing or two. She is now the one teaching him, and at eight years old is exhibiting before he is. The second reason was grief, and the need for a space where the mind could settle on one thing, learn something, and make something beautiful. Both reasons turned out to be good ones.
He had no background in art and no belief that he was the kind of person who could paint. That turned out to be wrong. Two or three years in, he has produced work that has genuinely surprised him, including a painting of his two daughters swimming at sunset, where a single layer of light applied at the end transformed the whole thing. He says he will remember that moment for the rest of his life.
He works in oils, drawn to subjects close to home: family life, his daughters Xanthe and Athene, and the particular quality of life in Whitstable. His inspirations include Van Gogh, Edward Hopper, and Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello, who were, of course, all great Renaissance artists before they were cartoon turtles.
He is still working on doing less to create more.