Sydney Sykes

Still Life has brought many artists to transform seemingly ordinary natural objects into something extraordinary.
Sydney Sykes is one of those artists who bring the viewer to really see a new perspective of a moments's beauty that perhaps can be all too easily overlooked. But it's not just his still life's that Sykes has captivated many from his East Anglian base, he has been commissioned for country homes, garden landscapes and portraits.
Born in Leicestershire in 1943, Sykes first worked with watercolour techniques before developing his practice in oils and acrylics. His earlier watercolours reflected his keen photographic eye and continued to forge over the years from his formal training at Loughborough College of Art, where he achieved a First Class honours Degree in Textile Design and Photography. Later at Leicester University he gained an Arts Teacher Diploma and began his teaching career at Great Yarmouth College of Art and Design in Norfolk. The influence of his tutors, Bryan Organ and Rigby Graham are evident in his work today, as is his admiration of the attention to details of the Pre-Raphaelites and the romantic techniques of Samual Palmer and John Piper.