A special talk and book launch

Thursday 1 November - 7pm

 

At this special discussion and book launch, we brought together journalist Greg Mofitt, Biff Byford of legendary metal band Saxon, fellow fantasy artist Mark Wilkinson, art collector Peter Nahum, and ex chair of the Tolkien society Alex Lewis to discuss Paul’s fantastic body of work. As a self-taught artist the book takes a journey through the three key aspects of his career. The first explores the sweeping landscapes of Paul’s imagined Tolkien world. The next documents Paul’s total absorption in the heavy metal world. As a life-long rock fan, Paul’s move into album artwork had been just a matter of time. His style lends itself perfectly to the genre and he brings to it the same restless imagination which shines throughout his other work.

Since 1984, Paul has created more than thirty album covers for some of rock and metal’s best-known bands, forming a body of work as impressive as any in the field. Many iconic bands of the genre have chosen him to design their album covers, and they each discuss the various projects in detail alongside the artwork. He has painted eleven for Saxon and worked for Molly Hatchet, Uriah Heep, Freedom Call, Blind Guardian, Dio and Company of Snakes. Paul has also found time to create and direct the greatest independent metal show in Britain! Bloodstock Heavy Metal Festival is visually represented with new paintings, posters and promotional material.