Artist: MJ Illingworth

MJ Illingworth's paintings are based on sketches, photos and memory; places, events, emotions and life. Music provides the additional dimension to his palette.

Illingworth takes an image or series of images and then breaks down the composition of colours, shape and form to grasp the essence of what he sees. He then uses this as the basis to paint abstract imagery that is inspired by the essential nature of the subject.

For each painting Illingworth chooses music to bring about the feeling and emotion that he wants to capture on the canvas. Whilst he paints he is locked into the music, and intuitively selects and mixes colours that he senses as the musical journey unfolds. The music guides his thoughts, his brushes, and the overall composition. "I hear, I feel, I paint".

Music is the doorway to his inner being and helps him to reach the different human emotions, moods and feelings that he wants to tap into as he paints. Illingworth believes We all have many sides to our personality and we express these at different times. As an artist he is no different, and therefore reflects this with variations in his style and uses music to help achieve this.

His art embraces the digital, audio, and visual waves of energy that are present in our everyday lives. The art produced is the output at the end of each audio journey. The art is not the music or the journey; it is the visual experience resulting from the mixture of the two.