Artist Spotlight: James Bland NEAC

Please could you introduce yourself?

I was born in 1979. I'm originally from Grimsby, via the Scottish Highlands and (briefly) Italy, now live in Canterbury. I've been a member of the NEAC for 11 years. I'm currently working on a book about portrait painting. 

Can you tell us a little about your process from initial research to a finished work? Where does inspiration spark from for you?

I paint from direct observation, photographs, drawings, and memory. I would love to be able to say there was a linear development from initial research to finished work, but in fact it's more chaotic than that. Inspiration comes from places, juxtapositions of shape, particularly sense memories, stories, and the people in my life.   

Your work often blends observation with imagination. How do you know when a painting should begin to move away from what you're seeing and towards what you're remembering or imagining? 

It comes from what I'm not good at. I wish I knew how to plan a composition, how to edit reality to make better pictures. What happens is I start more often than not with prosaic and unsatisfactory ideas, and then let them settle. After a while, the direction the work needs to go in might or might not become clear. By then, I've often moved away from a sense of allegiance to the specifics of the subject. Intuition plays a big part in it. 

You are a member of the New English Art Club. How does your involvement with the NEAC impact your practice or community?

I've enjoyed being part of the scholarship selection for the last couple of years. I'm happy to have been involved in drafting our equality and diversity statement. Teaching part-time and doing the odd bit of mentoring balances well with NEAC membership and volunteering. It's also good to be part of a conversation about what these societies are for. 

Finally, do you have a favourite work you are exhibiting in the NEAC Annual Exhibition? If so, why?

The Ice Factory is a unique structure in the docks area of my hometown in Grimsby that has been allowed to fall into ruin. Built around a huge Victorian ice-making machine, it has an almost Byzantine appearance. In any other part of the country it would be listed, and turned into an arts centre/cinema/cafe complex. The shocking deprivation in left-behind towns can leave beautiful ruins.