Gareth Parry was born in Blaenau Ffestiniog in 1951 into a family of quarrymen. Following school he attended the Manchester School of Art, but left before completing the course. He worked at a slate quarry in north Wales for two years before returning to painting. For a long time he worked mostly on private commissions and “anything to make a living by the brush”. In 2006 Gareth was elected a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy.

His paintings are produced in the studio and are based on pencil sketches or on memory alone. The landscapes are more about mood and effect than place, while the figurative works often reflect his concerns about living in a changing Wales.

“I have painted what has attracted me over the past year, mostly the transformation of landscape affected by weather, season or time of day and night. The changes in the landscape can be dramatic, and places I know well become at times, almost like places I hardly seem to know at all. Wales can be dark and brooding we know, but it can also be full of colour and complex tones. And when night comes, the moon or simple street lights bring their own subtle beauty and a Welsh river can have the allure of a Venetian canal. It is this variety that keeps me painting.”

This is his second solo show at the Martin Tinney Gallery, and follows a very successful exhibition at Tegfryn Gallery last year.