The multi-talented
Eric Kempson
was born in Hampshire, England in 1955,
and was brought up and educated in Winchester. His early career encompassed animal keeping, working with big cats and baboons in safari parks in England and Italy, estate management, and large-scale landscape design. In 1999 he moved to Molyvos, Lesvos, Greece, with his wife and baby daughter.
He now devotes himself to his painting, and to sculpture in the local olive wood:-
over the years he has perfected his own techniques for working this notoriously difficult material. His influences range from Ancient Greek and Old English mythology to twentieth century Surrealism, but for his sculptures he derives his main inspiration from the grain, texture, and shape of the wood he is working with at the time. Today, Lesvos is one of the main centres of olive cultivation in Greece ,with the highest density of trees - over eleven million, more than 120 for every inhabitant of the island.
Eric lives and works in an olive grove in a valley within the mystic seven hills of Eftalou, home over the centuries to poets, writers, and seekers after peace and wisdom.
Much of his raw material, all personally selected, comes from within walking distance, from trees at the end of their working lives, often centuries old, which over time have developed the density and beautifully convoluted grain which makes working olive wood so difficult, but which is central to his work, and makes the finished pieces so rewarding.
If you would like your prints signed and dedicated by the artists, Eric Kempson at a very reasonable cost. A great gift for that special occasion or person.
You can contact him with your request at ellenisworkshop@hotmail.com