Chris Bazeley Biography

Chris Bazeley Biography

Chris Bazeley was born in Bournemouth in 1944, the second son of an electronics engineer, he contracted Polio at the age of thirteen months. An over-active imagination in an under-active body produced an eye for detail and a creativitywhich manifested itself in an abundance of drawings and models of aircraft, cars, railways, etc.

What can only be described as an unspectacular education ended in scholarship to Bournemouth Municipal College of Art in 1960. His experience at Art College destroyed his confidence in any artistic ability, so he found employment as a model maker in the Aircraft Industry.

His marriage to Rhea, a school teacher in 1972, proved to be a turning point. The move to the fens of East Anglia provided the opportunity to become self-employed as an antique clock restorer. A broken leg in 1980 forced a halt in clock restoration and being restricted to a wheelchair he again took up pen and brush, the results being the link between art and technology, which were immediately and enthusiastically accepted by a hungry art market. Chris uses fine pen and ink to recreate the carefully researched detail that is so typical of all his work.

His magnificent artistry is achieved with traditional watercolour techniques - no airbrush or other modern technology is used in any of his paintings. His work is unique in that it combines humour, superb draftmanship and watercolour expertise In 1986 he was offered and took the opportunity to become a full time freelance illustrator. The freedom this gave, together with a sense of humour which had earlier proved to be a handicap in his brushes with industry, evolved into the sideways look at the world which is so uniquely Bazeley. Watercolours by Chris Bazeley are now in numerous collections including the L.T. A. Museum at Wimbledon. He, his wife, two children, a vintage car and dog, are now resident in the Cotswolds.