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KeithMaiden
“I have spent the best part of two years developing a style and technique of my own, through really close obser- vation of the human face and form” explains Keith Maiden, who until two years ago was a struggling artist who had to resort to buying the cheapest brushes in his local Shropshire art shop. Self-taught, he worked in the design and retail sector for over twenty years until redundancy hit. “Once I lost my job I just started out selling pencil portrait sketches in Ludlowmarket to make some money” explains Maiden, who immediately saw the way in which buyers responded to his raw and simple black and white portraits. With no lofty aspirations to be the next fashionable artist, Maiden’s natural talent, which has not been honed by an art school education, is raw, rugged and very honest. His first piece of work at the age of 15 when he realised he had some artistic talent was a portrait of Elvis – “I hate it but my mother still has it hanging over her fireplace wall these years later” laughs Maiden, whose journey to becoming a fully- fledged artist had been driven off course by an office job he endured in order to pay the bills and raise a family. Interest snowballed after his first paint- ings sold, and within a short space of time he dedicated himself to painting full time. His first collection for Castle Galleries, a triptych of portraits of young women display all the
2 Grace
Boxed canvas Edition of 95 Image 24” x 17” Framed £395 Unframed £275
FINE ART COLLECTOR SPRING 2014
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