Reaching for the skies

Swindon artist David Bent has just finished his latest work 'The Circus' as part of his Red Arrow series. Jamie Hill went to his studio to have a chat about his work.

David Bent has always been interested in aeroplanes.

As a child growing up in Dover he remembers his dad pointing out every type of aircraft flying overhead and by the age of five he could name every plane that flew overhead.

He is now one of the foremost aviation artists in the world and creates his work from his custom-built studio next to his home in Old Town.

He's even been awarded Honorary Companionship of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the society's highest distinction for those whose professional achievements are not exclusively in aerospace but who have made a substantial contribution to the aerospace profession.

It was awarded "in recognition of his exceptional contribution in transforming aviation art with iconic paintings, bringing aviation, technology and art together to a completely new audience while, at the same time, promoting aerospace far and wide."

In  2006 the Red Arrows invited him to collaborate as artist in residence. Retaining a goodwill relationship ever since, David is often referred to as the artist most closely associated with the team. He has just completed the sixth and final painting in his 'Arrows' cycle.

It is called 'The Circus' and is a celebration of the full team that make the arrows "fly".

David said: "Everybody loves the Red Arrows but they may not be aware of the Circus or the wider team. There's the 'Smoke Team' or 'Dye Team' as well as everybody else who is involved. This latest painting is a celebration of them.

"I started this painting back at the beginning of February. Obviously I haven't been doing it full time but I'm now finishing it at the start of June."

David has had an interesting life from being at the forefront of computer graphics in the early 80s to chucking it all in to go and live in Peru.

It was in the early nineties that he started to follow his artistic career full-time, even meeting his wife and partner Carole whilst teaching an art class in a small village in rural Essex.

The couple moved to Swindon in 1995 but it wasn't until 2002 that David's love of aeroplanes would be piqued again.

He said: "I went to RIAT (The Royal International Air Tattoo) in 2002 and kind of fell in love. I took a load of pictures whilst I was there but at quite an unusual angle taking each shot front-on to the plane.

"When I returned home, I was looking through the images and started to put them together in a collage and this is where I formed my 'Aerobots'.

"So the next year I decided I would try to sell some of my work and I hired a pitch and bought a small B&Q tent and the rest, as they say, is history.

"We've been invited to exhibit in the Patrons pavilion ever since."

David's work which takes in genres from expressionism to abstract art always involves more than you can see at first glance.

His wife Carole said: "What I love about David's work is that there's always something new to see every time you look at it. There's always new bits to discover. His paintings say so much and are so detailed. They are also very accessible and a joy to look at."

In the last few years David has been embraced in the aviation industry as one of its foremost artists. He has designed several of the covers for the RIAT programmes. His work has taken him out to different air shows around the world.

"I've really got RIAT to thank for a lot of this. If they hadn't appreciated what I was doing I would never have got the art in front of the right people."

But it's not just his aviation art that he is known for. His 'Movement 2000' shows aspects of refugee surges around the world including the Balkans. The eight powerful paintings were created as a Millennium project back in 2000 and were met with universal praise. He is still looking for a home for them to be more permanently displayed.

He has also been a leading figure in the annual Swindon Open Studios.

For more information about his work visit davidbentstudio.com

This year's RIAT takes place from 14 to 17 July at RAF Fairford. For more information visit www.airtattoo.com