“I admire artists that can stick to one thing and one style. I see something that inspires me, and I think ‘I can do that!’ It’s great in keeping me engaged. It’s all about enjoying it for me! 

“I have always been interested in art since secondary school – it’s the one thing I was interested in at school,” he continued. 

Pictured: Danny Booth has "always" been interested in art.

“I always followed the art route: I went to art college, and then university to do a degree in fine art at Bournemouth Arts Centre.  

“I always drew as a child, it was something I really enjoyed so I practised it a lot. When I became a teenager, I realised I was quite good at it, and I kept on practising and worked really hard. I had a really good art teacher who inspired me and showed me lots of different things and it snowballed from there.” 

No matter how many disciplines he explores, Danny always returns to painting, which he describes as “his bread and butter”. Oil painting is his favourite method, and he particularly loves the impasto technique – where paint is laid on thickly to provide texture – rather than lighter styles of painting.

Pictured: Oil painting is his favourite method to practice.

“From the first time I used oils, I thought, ‘That’s the thing for me’,” Danny explained. “It’s a lovely material to work with. When I went to university, I did a lot of work to try and challenge the nature of paint and see how far I could take it to give it more of a sculptural element.  

“I had a very helpful technician who showed me lots of different ways to work with it and what waxes to add. I like that there’s an element of sculpture to oil painting – rather than using a brush, I use pallet knives.” 

His latest body of work – still life oil paintings inspired by the 17th century Dutch Golden Age painters with a contemporary twist – combines his beloved impasto technique with a source of inspiration that has always attracted him, the natural world. 

Pictured: Danny uses the natural world as inspiration in all his work.

“Everything I have done has been about nature, whether that’s landscapes or abstract work, it’s my biggest inspiration,” he said. “I'm a keen gardener and have an interest in all types of plants. The plants I've grown in my small garden are photographed and used as the subject matter for the paintings. I digitally manipulate the photographs first, I like the idea of taking a very traditional genre like still life and using more contemporary methods and ideas and mixing it all up. 

“There are elements of surrealism and symbolism in the works inspired by artists like Christian van Minnen and Gordon Cheung but also many references to art history and renaissance ceramics.” 

Describing his painting process, Danny says he simply “slaps it all on” until it gets to the point where it would fall off the canvas if he added anymore.  

“It takes a long time to dry, sometimes it might take a couple of months,” he said. “As I am very impatient, it’s a good way of working for me because it makes me slow down. I have to let it sit on the wall for a while. It gives you some distance and you can return to the painting with fresh eyes. Larger paintings can take up to a year, but a lot of time it’s just watching paint dry, so I always have several works on the go.” 

Pictured: Danny's process is to "slap it all on" and go from there.

In addition to his work in the studio, Danny is an art teacher. A few years into his career, he returned to university as a mature student to complete his PGCE and he has been trying to inspire his students to “think differently” ever since. 

“I think there is a lot of things in art that you cannot teach and that you have to learn yourself,” he said. “I know I learned a lot of things myself. It’s such a personal thing – no one tells you what you do in your own studio, it’s just you. So, as a teacher, you show lots of different materials and practices to try and inspire students.  

“I don’t think people are naturally creative, I think you can learn that. It’s something that can be nurtured and encouraged, so you are trying to teach creativity and original thought, which are really important. The scientists that are going to cure cancer are the ones that think differently to everyone else – that’s pure original thought. It's such an important thing in life and in culture, just thinking differently and being different.” 

Since returning to the island after completing his degree, Danny says things have gotten a lot better for local creatives with more opportunities available and organisations getting involved. Besides additional funding  –“more investment is always welcome,” he notes – Danny believes creatives should be supported to gain studio space to allow future generations to continue creating in the way they wish to. 

“The thing that artists struggle with most over here, especially if you are a young artist, is studio space,” he explained. “It’s such a premium in Jersey and trying to find a studio to work in is impossible, unless you are rich, which most artists are not. I am very fortunate to have a really supportive landlady. Without that support, I would not have the space to work in and I would not be able to paint the way I paint because it’s messy!  

“If we could have cheap rent or subsidise rent, it would be great. The most important thing to help artists, whether that’s musicians, writers or painters, is space to work in – it’s the biggest boost you can offer.” 

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This article first appeared in the September edition of Connect Magazine – pick up a copy around the island or read the digital edition in full below...