Philip Copestake: Chasing Childlike Creativity
Where are you from and how does that affect your work?
I don’t really feel I’m from anywhere in particular, my parents were both from the Black Country - the West Midlands. I was born in Oxfordshire but we moved from there when I was 1 to Watford in North London. I was in Watford until around the age of 8-11, I’ve got really great memories of school in Watford, especially one of my last primary school teachers who I credit my first memory of painting to. She got us to paint a picture of Fleetwood Mac’s track ‘Albatross’ which is a really distinctive memory that has stayed in my mind. I managed to get in contact with her actually a few years ago when I had a studio in London, we met up for lunch which was really lovely, she even came to my wedding back in 2021!
When I was about 11 we moved to Redding, and I had my secondary schooling at an all boys’ school which was very academic, art wasn’t really a thing in that environment - the art I do make is very much self-taught as a result. As an adult, I went to University in Edinburgh and studied Biology - I was in Edinburgh for 5 years and it was fantastic. Especially the galleries, they really sparked my interest in art. I felt like an outsider being in such a competitive field with a love for art, so I would take myself off and wander around the galleries.
After Edinburgh I moved back down to London to do my postgraduate. Living in London was fantastic, I did a lot of workshops and art courses, I also got into life-drawing which is a big interest of mine now. I’ve worked in science all my life but doing art is very much a serious thing, it's not a hobby to me it’s a passion. Taking my renewed confidence, I found a studio near to where I was living and I had that space for 4/5 years - it was much nicer than having to clear the dining room table and laying out my materials. I moved up to South Yorkshire in 2019 to be with my partner, and I love it. When I knew I was moving up I knew that I wanted my own studio space.
How did you start making art? Is this a career for you or a hobby?
I’ve never thought of my artwork as a hobby, it’s always been a passion for me. Doing biology, back in the day, we would have to do dissections and draw them - I’ve still got some of my old dissection drawings actually. As a teenager, I was also a keen birdwatcher so I was always very interested in wildlife art. Art has always been a big thing for me, selling a few pieces over the years has been great but it is very much a personal thing for me. I’ve got my own website set up now and a blog. I admire people who can make art into a career, social media has made marketing a lot easier but it is nonetheless very hard work. I just love looking at art, trying to figure out how artists have created what they have - going around an art gallery with me can be a very tedious process, I’ll stare at a painting for 10 minutes. Making art a career brings that risk that you are making art for others, and for what sells, I very much enjoy the intimacy and privacy of the process.
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
This is a really hard question actually. I just love looking at art and the diversity of it. It always amazes me how different we all are and what we produce, every person is out there making their own mark. That sense of mark making is magical. Growing up though I would definitely say I admired the typical 20th Century great artists: Picasso, Matisse. I really love Paul Klee’s work, Barbara Hepworth’s sculpture work and drawings, Stanley Spencer, David Hockney. I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Tracey Emin, her figurative work is really emotional and really quite powerful. I love printmaking also, it feels so magical to me you never exactly know how it is going to turn out - it may be my scientific background but I love the process of it, as messy as it can be. I found this a hard question to answer because I just love looking at all art at the end of the day.
Is there a specific environment or medium that is significant in your work?
It’s really nice to have my own studio space as an environment. In terms of medium, I do a lot of drawing and I find it quite meditative. I’m actually a trained yoga teacher as well, that has been a big part of it. I had a really great yoga teacher who was a big part of that - she was really creative and had a lot of influence on the work that I do, treating it as a meditative process. A few years ago I started using a dice to add a bit of randomness into my work, I would throw the dice to decide where lines would go. I also very much admire Paul Klee and he uses the process of ink transfer a lot which is something I really enjoy doing. I remember looking at his pictures and trying to work out what he’d done. When I discovered his process I tried it out for myself, I love the process and the randomness of it.
What motivates you to create art?
It’s just a part of who I am. I have quite a passionate, emotional response both whilst making art and looking at art. It’s very meditative for me, I like to get immersed and feel lost in a piece of artwork. It was difficult obviously with a full-time job so I’ve got a lot of projects on the go at once. It’s a luxury to have a space to dedicate to making art and I’ve got lots of pieces from other artists in my studio space which always inspire me.
How do you know when a piece of artwork is finished?
I feel like there are two sides to this. Some of my drawings have a definitive end, I know the structure and what it is that I set out to do. I may not necessarily be happy or pleased with the end result but sometimes the work is just done - that’s a difficult thing to grapple with, to leave a piece alone. I think with abstract pieces it’s harder to know when something is finished, it’s a sense that you have done all that you can do - that’s when a piece is finished. I have got a piece that I started back in my studio in London that has been in the process for 10 years, others have looked at it and said it’s finished but I’ve not had that sense yet. It’s an interesting concept ‘what it means for a piece of work to be finished?’.
How do you define success as an artist?
For me, it’s just the fact of doing it - picking up the pencil and having the bravery to start, the bravery to commit time to it. The education system has told a lot of people that they can’t draw or they can’t paint, but we all have different marks that we can and do make. Picasso said that he’d spent his life trying to get back to how he drew as a child, to get back to that freedom and unchained creativity. It’s not about drawing things in proportion or perfectly, that’s not what makes art interesting to me.
If you could own any one piece of artwork what would it be?
I am already lucky enough to have a modest collection - I love prints, they're very accessible and each is different. I always think that it’s a nice thing to pick up pieces as artists are on their way up. I mentioned Paul Klee before because I really love his work. I remember going to an exhibition of his painting in Edinburgh and welling up, I had a very emotional response to that piece. It was ‘The Twittering Machine’ which he made in 1922 - I don’t think I could afford it but if I could, I would have that.
