© Matthew Harvey (MH Fine Art) 2020 all rights reserved.
Self Portrait.
The early days…
From a young age I had a curiosity with images especially cartoons.
Whenever my sister was given the responsibility of looking after she would very often
take me to the local library and to keep me entertained find some cartoon books and
ask me to copy my favourite characters. Very often this would be of Disney characters
& animated characters from TV shows of the time.
School life…
School presented structure to art and the discipline of creating art
that ‘others’ required, although sometimes frustrating it was nice to show the skills
I had. At the age of 10 I won my first art competition with a trip to a theatre and
to be presented with my prize on stage by the cast. Secondary School and College
I focused on media studies which included Photography, Video and Sound Recording.
Career…
A career in art was merely a pipe dream until my first job as a Cabinet Maker
was ended in the early nineties by redundancy. Leaving me very short on cash for
Christmas. A decision to create a couple of portraits for family that year soon translated
in to the best form of advertising - word of mouth - and before I knew it I was being
supported by friends and family spreading the ‘word’ of my talents. The decision
was made to do things for myself and I set up my art business and earned a living
as a professional artist for six enjoyable years.
With the arrival of our first daughter
(also now a very talented artist) meant the often seasonal income from my art not
being enough to survive. I was ‘forced’ to seek as many people class ‘a proper job’.
For
many years I have been a graphic designer with a very strong practical and technical
background in the print industry, so never really drifted too far from being creative
and I believe has given me exceptional knowledge of another side to art and design.
The future…
I really hope for the future that you my audience, enjoy my work and most
of all enjoy anything I may create for you be it a bespoke commission or one of the
many prints that are available on my website. Enjoy.