Stephen Gayford's private originals collection

STEPHEN GAYFORD’S PRIVATE COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL PAINTINGS:


This is rare opportunity to acquire one of Stephen Gayford’s original paintings. Stephen’s originals are only occasionally released for sale, the paintings shown here are from his personal, private collection. Due to the numerous requests received, Osborne and Allen are proud to announce that we have persuaded Stephen to allow a limited number of his original works to be released for sale to his collectors.

These are the actual paintings created from his many field trips and safari’s around the world from which Osborne and Allen proudly produce the Limited Editions. The editions have gained Stephen the reputation as one of the UK’s best selling artists.
Whilst his limited edition’s are ever popular amongst his growing number of collectors, the quality and detail of the original painting has to be seen to be appreciated. Stephen is among the foremost wildlife artists in the UK, and his art is appreciated by numerous international collectors. As a professional artist, Stephen paints from a depth of knowledge and passion, and each work is inspired and informed by countless hours of personal observation and research.
These originals are painted in acrylic paints on canvas and varnished, the sizes quoted are the canvas size. When finished, the painting is framed in a high quality frame selected by the artist to compliment each painting.

By combining intricate detail, dramatic lighting, and anatomical accuracy, he has become widely known for his "up close and personal" compositions. The incredible wildlife and habitat from Africa, India and North America have been Stephen’s passion and inspiration for the past three decades. He says, "The excitement lies in passing on the experiences I have witnessed on Safari onto the viewers and collectors of my paintings.’’ He travels frequently to research his subjects in their natural habitat, believing that there is no substitute for personal experience in the field. More often, he'd rather be on safari in the thick of the experience than indoors painting it.
He says, ‘’Painting, for me, has never been a hobby, I feel compelled, even driven to paint - I have heard professional writers and sportsmen say the same. Since I was twelve years old, I have always painted, it is a passion - a labour of love. I dislike front light, ie. the sun behind the observer, I prefer back light or side light, or diffused light as in a cloudy, or dusty day. I love dust and mist because it portrays the volume of air between the objects’’
‘’I start with little sketches in pencil on an A5 sized pad. I may do one, two or twelve until I get the right composition. When painting, I have a large mirror behind me and I sometimes view the painting in reverse, if something in the painting does not feel right to me, it becomes obvious in the reflection, and I can then easily correct it’’.

‘’People often ask how long it takes me to do a painting. The answer is, I don’t really know. I work on between two and ten at once. I like paintings when I first start them as they have a simplicity, and the more I work on them, sometimes the further away from the original inspiration they can become, so I start another one. By the time I have started the third or fourth one I can return to the first and work on it with a new inspiration. One painting has taken me about three years so far, and it’s not finished yet’’!