Tim Steward
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The following May, an opportunity came up in my job to work on a part-time basis and without hesitation I decided to take it up. The first six months was quite an adjustment….. painting at home in the kitchen (as this was the only room where I could stand sufficiently far back to look at my work) and sleeping in my bed amidst pots of paint and canvases….not an ideal set up!
After 6 months, to my relief, I found a studio on the Cowley Road, where I was based for 12 months. Not least, this was great in that I was beginning to mix more and be inspired by people of a like mind. The year in the Cowley Road Studios was an exciting time with commissions and opportunities arising to build up my artistic career. By the end of the year I had an agent who was selling prints of my work around the country and was also selling work in a shop in Watford.
The studio was however consuming a lot of money and whilst an attractive space I knew this was not sustainable in the long run. In January 2005, thanks largely to my fellow artist at the Cowley Road Studios and to James Grote at the Ark-t, I moved in as a resident artist at The Ark-t Centre.
Situated 100m from my home, it couldn’t have been more ideal. The people and the place are a huge blessing providing me with space to work, an opportunity to mix with other artists and to get involved in the Centre. Now, increasingly I am seeing ways in which art can be instrumental as part of community projects, in bringing together community and in drawing people into this little oasis in Temple Cowley.
1. ‘Rad Cam 8’
2. ‘Rad Cam 7’
3. ‘Freedom’
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Cafe
Journey to the Ark T
In January 2002 I went away with my church to High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon and it was there that I felt real confirmation that I should pursue my art as a career. For 5 years I had been working in Town and Country Planning in South Oxfordshire District Council, and increasingly over this time I was realising the need to be true to myself and my passions, namely my growing desire to express myself through my art. More than this I felt that this was something God’s hand was on and that I was being encouraged to step forth into his grace and provision for me.
