Alexander Millar
I was born in 1960 into the small mining community of Springside a few miles outside the town of Kilmarnock on the west coast of Scotland. Life within the small Scottish village was very traditional and although I grew up in the 60´s era it felt more like the 40´s. My formative years were spent in the company of old men dressed in dark suits smoking woodbines partnered with large missile-shaped women decked out in headscarves and pinnies.
My father worked for British Rail and I got great pleasure from simply sitting in the atmospheric steam filled stations which even today I find are the most romantic, nostalgic places to be. Many of my most romantic paintings are set within that very atmosphere - I guess I´m just a big old fashioned nostalgic romantic at heart! It therefore comes as no surprise to many that my favourite film is ´The Quiet Man.´
I escaped school in 1976 and eventually fled Springside to set myself up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
This jump from sleepy peacefulness to hustle and bustle was like going from the frying pan straight into the fire. I found Newcastle had, and still has, its fair share of characters locally known as ´Gadgies´ which fed me much inspiration later on in life when I finally discovered my destiny as an artist. After a number of different jobs I finally settled down in 1988 to become a professional artist. I am completely self-taught and after many years of developing my own style in art I turned to images remembered from my childhood and used the local Tyneside ´Gadgies´ as models in my paintings.
The past couple of years have been especially exciting as my work has taken on a life of its own. Sales have gone through the roof and everyone seems to be taking notice of these solitary figures I create. I´m continually surprised to see the effects my paintings have on people, on many occasions I´ve had women moved to tears absorbed by a painting that evokes memories of their father or grandfather.
After a number of sell out exhibitions one of my paintings was entered in the Daily Mail´s ´Not the Turner Prize´. Ten thousand works were entered and my painting was chosen as one of the finalists which were exhibited at the Mall Galleries in London.
