The painter, Samuel Hencher, although born in Newcastle, 1971, lived in Ilkley with his family during the latter part of his childhood and teenage years, and his art work still features Yorkshire scenes. His family still lives in the district.
He specialises in painting urban and landscape scenes where light is used to create dramatic or atmospheric effects. he told the Bradford ‘Telegraph & Argus’ (December 2019):
Yorkshire is one of the few places where I actually paint en plein air and it makes a real difference. It is difficult to open an easel on the streets of London and in other busy towns and cities so I work more with sketchbooks that I can refer to later.
I try to catch an impression of the scene – working from memory and sketchbooks achieves a looser, less laboured effect which, I believe, makes for a better painting.
I often find that a scene that is quite ugly is best – the light transforms it into something beautiful and then the fact that someone has bothered to paint it and frame it makes it special.”
The Wharfe, Ilkley. Image: see artist’s website.
Samuel attended a middle school in Ilkley, then Ilkley Grammar School, where his interest in art was encouraged. After leaving school, he attended Bradford College, School of Art on a one year Art Foundation course, but decided not to pursue a full-time formal art course beyond this. Instead, he opted for travelling, which lead him to Stockholm.
In Stockholm he worked in an Irish pub and started to sketch and paint portraits on the street. He was spotted by an artist who worked with TV and animation and who offered him a job. This led him to work on creating music videos created by the award-wining Swedish film director and musician, Jonas Akerlund.
In his early twenties he moved to London, still working in video production field, but at the same time pursuing his own interest in painting.
In 2000 Samuel moved to South Africa, again working in film and TV for around eight years, before returning to Sweden, and later to Berlin, where he currently has a home. His interest in painting as a full time freelance career began to grow in importance for him and he began to exhibit and sell his artwork in England.
In addition to urban and landscape scenes, he paints portraits and nudes. Texture is important in his work:
I mix thin and thick paint. I studied for a while at the Florence Academy of Art and I like classical composition and application. I try to mix that with modern scenes and a more cinematic aspect, and frame them with classical black wooden frames. I think the mixing up of both things makes the paintings modern, but with the feel of the classics.
London Skyline. Image: see artist’s website.
