A Lyon based artist, I am a freelance artist and illustrator from Manchester.
After graduation from Leeds college of Art in 2013, I set up a small business providing screen printing, painting and illustration services. The company Take Root Printing grew alongside my art until October 2019 when I moved to France. Closing it was sad, yet it was time to move on to be a full time artist, hundreds of t-shirts a day weren’t doing my shoulders much good either!
I use painting and illustration to comment on the circumstance of the day, from the oversaturated to the obscure. I enjoy using painting to retell a story that has been oversaturated in the media and also to shine a light on those our collective consciousness chooses to ignore. It could be politicians taking backhanders to the destruction of the ocean by barbaric fishing practices, if it sparks that little bit of fury within me, I’ll try and get it down on paper, wood, whatever really.
I feel indebted to the spectator of my work, so choose to reward attention with ‘easter eggs’ in my work. These can range from small jokes to cryptic clues hidden in plain site. I enjoy the idea that someone can walk away from one of my paintings with their curiosity piqued, with a desire to pursue the chosen subject independently afterwards.
Recently I have participated in some great residencies, from a sojourn in the Leeds Print Workshop for Indie Food Week to a breathtaking residency at The Courti Estate, corfu.
Desperate to hang something of mine on your all too bare walls? Please click here to see available works: https://www.artfinder.com/artist/paul-ward/ Don’t want to pay a fat commission? Come back and message me once you have found an artwork that interests you.