Just landed in Mousehole. A fantastic haul by Father and Son Michael and Nick Praed.
Artist Michael Praed was born in Cornwall in 1941 and studied art locally, at the Penzance and Falmouth Schools of Art. Michael's paintings of the Cornish coastline, ports and fishing boats have a distinctive personal style and are instantly recognisable. Bright hulls of boats contrast with the natural sea blues and rust-coloured rocks that characterise many of the paintings.
Michael's son Nick Praed was born in the fishing town of Newlyn in 1974. Growing up around the harbour he subsequently went to sea at the age of 18, and his work at that time deeply reflected his many experiences at sea working on the boats and his love for that environment.
The sea is still very much the feature in Nick's work, and his paintings often highlight the beautiful curvilinear shapes of fishing boats & their hulls contrasted with the sharper lines of Cornish harbour walls. Although Nick isn't in the fishing industry anymore, he still works at sea skippering a survey vessel. Many of his paintings were actually painted on board while out at sea.