The featured designer in these three shows was Julia Kendell
and the presenter was Terri Dwyer.
'A House in Tuscany'
I was first contacted by Zenith Entertainment back in 2000 to see if I was
interested in contributing to their 'A House in Tuscany' series.
I replied positively and about a week later I was painting a Tuscany window
trompe l'oeil in front of a camera.
Alan Ravenscroft, the program presenter, turned up before I started painting
to film his first slot with me & a blank wall. Once we got the right take I was
able to crack on and, seeing as I only had one day to complete the trompe l'oeil,
I cracked on at quite a pace !
I was filmed at intervals from a camera at a fixed point so when seen in the final
edit my 14 hours of frantic work was condensed into about 20 seconds !
Alan Ravenscroft popped back in the evening when I had finished painting to
admire the result and film another interview segment.
When the program aired my sequence was cleverly edited to appear that I was
actually painting in a villa in the heart of Tuscany - Alan even mentioned to me
in the program that we pop into the local tavern for a glass of wine - in reality I drove home along the M25 in the pouring rain
(& I was stuck for ages in road works).
Alan, if you happen to be reading this, I am still waiting for that glass of red : )
'Room Rivals'
I was again approached by Zenith Entertainment to appear in their 'Room Rivals'
show fronted by Kathryn Rayward, John Amabile and Andy Kane (Handy Andy
from 'Changing Rooms').
This time I was working on a bedroom makeover in a family home in West
London. If you have watched these home makeover shows and think thay are
a "bit manic", then you have no idea !
It was not a big room and once you have a camera operator, boom operator,
producer, all the equipment, two interior designers, one presenter, a couple
of carpenters, some runners and the odd electrician - all coming in and out
of the room - things got a little cramped !
The theme of the room was 'Scandinavia' so I was painting a suitable landscape
scene that was going to have real working shutters attached to it.
For some of the time whilst I was painting I had a carpenter working next to me
sanding down - needless to say I ended up with textured paint !
Once again, as with 'A House in Tuscany', time was always a factor
and we all had just the one day to transform the room - a tall order but somehow
it all came together - just don't ask me how : )
'The Great Pretenders'
This was a series of 10 minute shows produced by Multi Media Arts for Channel 4
The series focused on a different individual for each show - somebody whose line
of work involves some form of faking or 'pretending' in one form or another.
There were food photographers, magicians, undercover investigators and
a trompe l'oeil artist - ie me !
I was very fortunate to be allowed two days filming and I did not have to travel,
the production journeyed down from Manchester to film in my studio - mind you
I had to feed and water them : )
The show did a speeded up segment of my painitng of a trompe l'oeil window
(another Tuscany scene). I also got quite a lot to say this time as I had a full 10
minutes to fill so was able to explain a lot about the work I was doing.
Once the work was completed I was filmed for the final interview segment which
I still cringe whenever I watch it.
The episode featuring myself was first broadcast on Channel 4 in May 2004 but
it has been repeated numerous times so look out for it.
Select the link below to view the slideshow - use the slideshow
controls to view the work.
Television Work Slideshow
