Artist Guy Watts

Freshfords are proud to announce an exciting collaboration with Somerset Artist Guy Watts

COMING VERY SOON ORIGINAL WORKS OF ART TO BE LAUNCHED ONLINE

“In a striking fusion of old and new” Freshfords Fine Antiques and Frome artist Guy Watts ignite a creative firestorm, bridging the centuries with an audacious collaboration. Against the warm patina of a Georgian mahogany secretaire, the intricate dreamscapes and otherworldly patterns of Watts’s pen-and-ink drawings leap to life, challenging the very notion of historical art. His meticulously detailed, hypnotic lines appear to dance with the fine grain of a Gillow cabinet, while an 18th-century mirror becomes a portal to his fantastical visions. This dynamic partnership shatters convention, proving that the exquisite craftsmanship of the past can coexist with, and be energized by, the thrilling ingenuity of contemporary artistic expression.

Guy Watts Provenance

Career commitments

I moved to Frome 22 years ago, seeing it as a pretty town with a fairly vibrant art scene. However, to get on the housing ladder, I purchased a somewhat run down terraced cottage which absorbed two years in renovation between 2003 – 2005 as well as working on the oil rigs. 

Due to recent concerns on environmental issues and the cost to pollution in all the flying I was doing to travel to and from work, I decided to take my art more seriously and from November 2006 have become a full time artist, beginning to market my work locally in 2009. 

My Drawings

I specialise in detailed dreamy, naïve and also complex patterns. This all started when I bought my first pair of glasses at the age of 27, before putting up with squinting at distant objects. This sudden clarity in vision tripped off the desire to draw and first picked up the pen in 1990, initially producing my own designs for cassette covers and a few private commissions for parties/hotel openings and drawing oil rigs. This was followed by commiting to much larger, generally A4 pieces of art, mostly working from home and occasionally squeezing in smaller works on the oil rigs in the North Sea.

The drawings over time, especially around the years 1998-2001 became increasingly complex, ultimately working with a 0.13mm rotring ink pen. Most pieces may take up to 6 weeks to execute, a few over a 6 month period, depending on other life commitments. 

Most of my work comes from exploring dreams, meditative states of mind, cycle rides, yoga and country walks, Somerset being a prefect place to build on my imagination with its beautifully variable landscapes. However, I have taken time out cycling around various parts of Europe, living mostly wild camping, especially in Spain. 

In planning a picture, I will sketch out the most basic of ideas, after which I then concentrate on the one drawing from start to finish. Some times it can take several years before I commit myself to a sketched piece but once I start, I concentrate only on one picture. Other artists of considerable influence include Paul Klee, M C Escher, Yves Tanguey and other artists who love attention to detail. Music can play a powerful role in creating and ambience and have a large collection of ambient/experimental ranging from Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd and music played by the late John Peel on Radio 1, also Radio 3 ‘Late Junction’ and ‘Here and Now’, more recently,’Nightracks’. .

Previous Exhibitions and Travels:

1996: Newcastle University 6” x 6” drawing competition

1998: Jerwood prize Entry

1998: 7 month 5,500 mile cycle tour of mainland Europe

1999: featured in published book called ‘Black Tide – Ink drawings from human beings’

2000: Art Of Imagination open Exhibition, London

2001: Henry Boxer group exhibition New York

2001-2002: 5 month 5000 mile cycle tour Spain

2007: Gave up full time work to commit to full time artwork

2007: Evolver prize open entry in Thelma Hubert gallery, Honiton

2007: Frome open Arts trail (also devised map for this trail)

2007: Produced series of limited prints and cards

2007-2008: Winter 3,500 mile cycle tour France and Spain

2009: Started my business selling cards and prints to the public

2009: La Strada Print exhibition, Frome

2010: ongoing fairs selling cards and prints at local events

2010: Rook lane chapel Gallery, Frome. “Four and twenty” artists group show

2011: ongoing fairs selling cards and prints at local events

2011: the Art Tree gallery, Shepton Mallet group show

2011: The Royal West of England Autumn Exhibition group show

2012: continual markets selling cards and prints of my work

2012: Black swan open, group exhibition

2012: Autumn Royal West of England Autumn Exhibition group show

2013: Successful entry to the Society for Graphic Fine artists as an associate

2013: 5 years celebrating my art card and print business

2013:  Black swan open, group exhibition

2014: The Royal West of England Autumn Exhibition group show

2014: SGFA group exhibition show at the Mernier gallery, London

2016: SGFA group exhibition show at the Mernier gallery, London

2017: SGFA group exhibition show at the R K Burt gallery, London

2018: SGFA group exhibition show at the Black Swan Art Gallery, Frome

2018: 10 years in business selling art prints and cards

2019/20 quiet period/Covid

2019-2022, various commission for LMG company producing detailed maps of London

2023 ran my own retailoutlet in Frome selling prints, cards and originals

2025 Apri – July, invitation to the group exhibition titled ‘Landscapes and dreamscapes’, represented by the Johnathon Cooper gallery in Chelsea, London.

2025 September ongoing, entered for the 172 |Open Arts  exhibition at the RWA in Bristol

2023 – moved into using colour in my works

2022 – major self motivated drawings including ‘Prana’, ‘Red Sun’, ‘Wide Open’ ‘Spice Tree’, ‘Inner Space’, Connected circles 2 and most recently ‘The Crowd’ each  encompassing over 600 hours drawing time

2025 –  Successfully run my own arts business for 17 years

2025 – initial collaboration with Freshfords.com, a business selling high end antiques whos’ company business owner Simon Powell has decided to represent me on his business platform.