insideKENT Magazine Issue 67 - October 2017 | Page 31

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE:
SHANE RECORD
The Leas, Folkestone
FOLKESTONE IS IN THE MIDST OF A HUGE REGENERATION, LED MAINLY
BY THE ARTS. THIS MONTH, insideKENT SPOKE TO ONE OF THE TOWN’S
ARTISTS, WHO ALSO HAS HIS OWN GALLERY IN FOLKESTONE, ABOUT
WHAT MAKES THE PLACE SO SPECIAL, AND ABOUT HIS OWN WORK AND
HOPES FOR THE FUTURE.
If you had to define your art, how
would you describe what you do?
I’m a figurative painter and mainly
paint in oils with a palette knife. I
paint a wide variety of subjects,
from seascapes and landscapes to
still lifes and portraits. I like looking
at ordinary, everyday scenes and
making them into works of art. I’m
not interested in trying to be clever
but aim to communicate
atmosphere and emotion in my
work.
How did you become an artist?
It was something I wanted to do
since leaving school. I went to live
in Berlin in my early twenties to try
my luck at it then but ran out of
money after a year and ended up
teaching, translating and tour
guiding! I moved back to England
after three years and got an office
job but kept returning to painting.
One day I went to Lympne (about
10 miles from Folkestone where
there is an amazing view over
Romney Marsh) and painted there
for an afternoon. I took the painting
home and put it in my kitchen.
When I looked at it I started to think that maybe I could be good
enough to become professional so I made a decision; I would paint
one hundred paintings and by the end of that process I’d know
whether I was good enough or not. It took about two years and by
the end of it I had turned professional.
Folkestone clearly plays a big part in
your work. What is it about the town that inspires you?
Folkestone is a town of mixed fortunes which I find interesting.
Also, it has such great variety visually. There is the working fishing
harbour, the coast, beach and seafront, then the downs just behind
the town. It’s also a town in the midst of a transformation – mainly
arts-led regeneration. It’s great being part of that.
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