Post by Wicked Cricket on Nov 3, 2014 11:30:37 GMT
'Cricket and Art - What is the Connection?'
Having had the privilege of interviewing former Gloucestershire/England wicketkeeper Jack Russell not once but twice last season
(at Arundel and Horsham) about his renowned ability as an artist - skills which earn him more money now than he ever gained as
a professional cricketer - the new kid on the block is none other than cheeky chappy Phil ‘Tuffers’ Tufnell who is in the middle of a
sporadic art tour around Britain displaying and selling his work.
48 year-old Tufnell has been involved with ‘arts and crafts’ since a young boy. He admits that Art was the only ‘O’ level he ever passed.
His father was a silversmith who worked close to the Angel underground, Islington and after Phil left school he spent 4 years under his
father’s tutelage learning the silversmith trade and evolving his creativity before a career in cricket beckoned.
Today, Phil’s niche is abstract art. He has a studio in Brighton which he regularly visits and whilst he’s splashing and spray painting on
canvas, his wife Dawn shops in ‘The Lanes’. Tufnell says, “I love painting. I am totally absorbed by it. It relaxes me from the hurly-burly
of my media life.” A great hero is ‘Banksy’.
‘Rain Stops Play’
Phil’s latest exhibition is called ‘The Cat‘ - a series of 10 abstract portraits where the central theme is a cat, apt given his feline nickname
which came about from a tendency to nap in the dressing-room during a cricket match.
www.philtufnellart.com/
The prints sell for £195 and are limited to 195 items each. It is unclear how much the originals sell for as four have already sold. Titles
include ‘Rain Stops Play’, ‘Don’t Change the Fly’ and ‘Cool for Cats’. Phil continues, “My ultimate aim now is to get one of my works up in the
Long Room at Lords.”
His tour comes to Brighton on Thursday, November 27th, where he’ll be exhibiting at ‘Curves & Edges Gallery’, at Arch 280, Madeira Drive.
The exhibition is open from 12pm - 9pm.
www.philtufnellart.com/exhibitions/curves-and-edges-gallery
Earlier Works
The connection between cricket and art is not unusual. For example, former Sussex and Durham cricketer Martin Speight is now a semi-professional
artist who specialises in oil paintings and drawings of sporting themes. He has been commissioned to create works for a wide range of people and
organisations, including Durham CCC and Wellington Cricket Association; Newcastle United, Sunderland and Hartlepool United Football Clubs; and
various international and county cricketers.
'A Cricketer's View' Book
He held two exhibitions of his work in Brighton during 1994 and 1995 and in the latter year produced a book of his work, entitled ‘A Cricketer’s View’.
Five years later he contributed to the ‘Millennium Exhibition’ at Lord’s and two years ago, in conjunction with the British Library, held an exhibition of
cricket artwork at ‘The RAC Club’ in Pall Mall, London.
www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/speight-martin-born-1967.html
The Jack Russell Interviews
unofficialsussexccc.freeforums.net/thread/3/softandfluffys-wicked-cricket-blog?page=5
unofficialsussexccc.freeforums.net/thread/3/softandfluffys-wicked-cricket-blog?page=8
Having had the privilege of interviewing former Gloucestershire/England wicketkeeper Jack Russell not once but twice last season
(at Arundel and Horsham) about his renowned ability as an artist - skills which earn him more money now than he ever gained as
a professional cricketer - the new kid on the block is none other than cheeky chappy Phil ‘Tuffers’ Tufnell who is in the middle of a
sporadic art tour around Britain displaying and selling his work.
48 year-old Tufnell has been involved with ‘arts and crafts’ since a young boy. He admits that Art was the only ‘O’ level he ever passed.
His father was a silversmith who worked close to the Angel underground, Islington and after Phil left school he spent 4 years under his
father’s tutelage learning the silversmith trade and evolving his creativity before a career in cricket beckoned.
Today, Phil’s niche is abstract art. He has a studio in Brighton which he regularly visits and whilst he’s splashing and spray painting on
canvas, his wife Dawn shops in ‘The Lanes’. Tufnell says, “I love painting. I am totally absorbed by it. It relaxes me from the hurly-burly
of my media life.” A great hero is ‘Banksy’.
‘Rain Stops Play’
Phil’s latest exhibition is called ‘The Cat‘ - a series of 10 abstract portraits where the central theme is a cat, apt given his feline nickname
which came about from a tendency to nap in the dressing-room during a cricket match.
www.philtufnellart.com/
The prints sell for £195 and are limited to 195 items each. It is unclear how much the originals sell for as four have already sold. Titles
include ‘Rain Stops Play’, ‘Don’t Change the Fly’ and ‘Cool for Cats’. Phil continues, “My ultimate aim now is to get one of my works up in the
Long Room at Lords.”
His tour comes to Brighton on Thursday, November 27th, where he’ll be exhibiting at ‘Curves & Edges Gallery’, at Arch 280, Madeira Drive.
The exhibition is open from 12pm - 9pm.
www.philtufnellart.com/exhibitions/curves-and-edges-gallery
Earlier Works
The connection between cricket and art is not unusual. For example, former Sussex and Durham cricketer Martin Speight is now a semi-professional
artist who specialises in oil paintings and drawings of sporting themes. He has been commissioned to create works for a wide range of people and
organisations, including Durham CCC and Wellington Cricket Association; Newcastle United, Sunderland and Hartlepool United Football Clubs; and
various international and county cricketers.
'A Cricketer's View' Book
He held two exhibitions of his work in Brighton during 1994 and 1995 and in the latter year produced a book of his work, entitled ‘A Cricketer’s View’.
Five years later he contributed to the ‘Millennium Exhibition’ at Lord’s and two years ago, in conjunction with the British Library, held an exhibition of
cricket artwork at ‘The RAC Club’ in Pall Mall, London.
www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/speight-martin-born-1967.html
The Jack Russell Interviews
unofficialsussexccc.freeforums.net/thread/3/softandfluffys-wicked-cricket-blog?page=5
unofficialsussexccc.freeforums.net/thread/3/softandfluffys-wicked-cricket-blog?page=8
