Since as far back as I can recall, art has been my vocation. It runs as pure and deep as my love for my partner and my beautiful children. The desire to create and express, to capture what burns like fire through my veins. My dreams flooded with the raw inspiration and passion from within are what lead to the birth of Thirteen Birds. When my father passed at the young age of 61, just before the birth youngest son, I felt my spirit awaken to the dark reality that time can and will stop still for us all. During my time studying painting at Loughborough and earning myself a BA Honours in Fine Art, I was always seeking something new. Trying to find where my style and work fitted in.

As a child I remember so vividly how my father could create such wonder. Transforming a blank canvas magically into something beyond words. A story tied together with colour. His thoughts intertwined across lines that independently may not mean much and yet together, mean so much. Despite the lack of money we had, these pieces of beauty were formed from so little and yet they spoke so loud. My brother and I would spend hours drawing on old rolls of woodchip and tossed out betting slip. Anything could become something with a little vision and creativity.

Adversity has struck hard during my life but one thing that kept me going was the freedom I found in my artwork. With the love and support of my wonderful wife and children, the romance of my work is built on love and perseverance . Thirteen Birds is both a memorial to my dad and the phoenix of my life.

Darren Rolinson