Spotlight: Martin Procter

Martin Procter was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1942, and moved to Devon in 1956. After a career in building and architecture, he became a full-time painter in 1998, and soon was firmly established as one of the Westcountry's leading contemporary artists. His work reflects his academic background in human and physical geography, a design base in architecture, and his life-long passion for remote hill-country and wild places.

He has held numerous solo and joint exhibitions, and his work can increasingly be found in many private and public collections, both in Britain and California.

“Long before I became a painter I learnt how to feel the land, understand how it was formed, where man has made his marks, and how to move through it. I have led a life full of adventure and travel, following my instincts, hearing the beat of distant drums, knowing the arc of the sun, and the way the wind blows. I have a life-long passion for the wild places - the hills and mountains, the deserts and polar regions - and my paintings are informed by these places, with ideas culled from reading, songs, memory, and learning to look and understand.”

“These wild places are my retreat, my solace, my church, where I go for spiritual refreshment. I am fascinated by the aboriginal tradition of songlines, maps in words and music to find your way across the land, where the song can be seen in the land, and the land can be heard in the song. “