1 of 5
neil patey dartmouth castle
Neil Patey Dartmouth Castle
2 of 5
neil patey greenway
Neil Patey Greenway
3 of 5
neil patey barn owl
Neil Patey Barn Owl
4 of 5
neil patey peregrine at beesands
Peregrin at Beesands
5 of 5
neil patey dartmouth castle
Neil Patey Dartmouth Castle
Inspired By Nature
The expression “hiding his light under a bushel” could have been coined especially for Neil Patey.
Born and brought up in Dartmouth, the 38-year-old is known amongst his friends for his love of football, and he managed Dartmouth AFC for some years. To them he’s a quiet, affable chap who enjoys fishing and makes a living from picture framing.
Few realise that Neil is an accomplished wildlife artist, whose paintings are collected internationally, and whose work has been commissioned by the National Trust and prestigious natural history illustrators the Wildlife Art Company, who work with clients including the Collins Field Guides and Natural History Museum in London.
A visit to his home near Old Mill provides few clues. He doesn’t display his own work at home because “I never think any of them look right. There are thousands and thousands of brush strokes in each painting and I see the ones I’m not happy with. I suppose I’m too critical, but with the standard of work required by the people I paint for, that is a good thing.”
The wildlife of the Dart and surrounding countryside is Neil’s main inspiration, but he also paints more exotic species from around the world – birds mainly, but also fish, frogs and some landscapes, though “I try to steer clear of painting people” he shudders.
“Most of the time I don’t choose what I paint, I’m told what to paint. I work a lot for an agency in the Middle East and they email me requests, so at the moment I’m doing a lot of hoopoes and cuckoos. They don’t tell me who the clients are (they don’t want me to go to them direct!) but apparently my work is hanging in Oman and Dubai, and a Sultan has been mentioned.”
The trademark of Neil’s work is the detail. His paintings could almost be photographs, every feather, hair or scale individually shaded. He exhibits throughout the South West, often raising funds for The Barn Owl Trust.
It’s the attention to detail which appeals to his clients. He explained: “I painted properties for the National Trust and one property manager was counting the bricks! The illustrations for the Wildlife Art Company have to be exact even to the number of feathers. Birds can lose a feather but they can’t have too many. In the early days I had a painting of a kingfisher sent back because it had one too many feathers on the wing. It set the standard.”
His pictures are painted in acrylics, but sometimes for a change he uses glue and paint to create more contemporary images – colourful frogs and lobsters are popular with buyers.
Neil paints in a studio in the converted garage of his parents’ home near St Clement’s Church. His father, Ron Patey, has just retired as one of Dartmouth’s best known electricians, and Mum Marion is proud of her son’s achievements. Their home, unlike Neil’s, is full of his paintings.
Neil and brother Stephen grew up and went to school in Dartmouth. “Stephen’s my older brother who worked hard at school and did well! He’s an accountant now and lives in Plymouth. I always used to draw for myself, mainly birds and animals, but at school then we didn’t do much art. When I left I went to the sixth form in Totnes to do biology and art, oh and economics (but that was mainly to keep my Dad happy!) and then on to college in Torquay to study graphic design.”
His design skills were honed at Loughborough University before Neil got a job as a graphic designer in Bristol. It didn’t work out as he’d hoped: “I lasted six months.
“It was the time when all the telephone numbers changed and had a One added in, so I spent all my time changing people’s stationery. It was so boring. I didn’t pick up a pencil in six months. So I packed it in and came home. I called my parents from the train – it didn’t go down very well!”
Realising the need to earn a living, Neil reached for his paints. A week after arriving home he painted a picture of a tawny owl and took it to a gallery in Totnes. “The gallery owner looked at it, asked me to paint five more, and sold them all. My work has carried on from there. If he had said no thanks, I don’t know what I’d have done.”
Neil loves Dartmouth and is drawn to the river and the sea, trying to find different views as backdrops for his work, new angles that Dartmothians haven’t seen before. Looking back he realises how much he missed the water at university in the Midlands and while working in Bristol. “I was always on the river as a kid – I still love walking beside it and going out fishing - and when I was away from it I really missed it. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else – and I couldn’t paint like this if I lived in a city or big town. I’ve always painted what is all around me.”
A disciplined artist, Neil paints from 8am until 4pm daily. He lives with girlfriend Tracey Callan, his partner since schooldays, and the couple are about to become parents any day now, so Neil has been frantically finishing off all the DIY in their house ready for the new arrival. Their parrot, Eddy, pines if left alone so he makes the short trip to the studio at Neil’s parents’ home every day too.
“I’m lucky to enjoy what I do, but I do get cross when people think it’s a hobby. This is no hobby – it’s my job. I don’t take a sketchbook on holiday with me.”
It might not be a hobby but it is a gift. His originals and prints are highly sought after, exhibitions are popular and his results are breathtaking. But he is humble, almost seeming embarrassed at the attention.
“I keep pretty quiet about this. Most of my friends don’t know anything about it. I go to football with them and we talk about the game, or I might go fishing. They know I do a bit of picture framing, but not about the paintings and exhibitions.
“I suppose I’m quite a private person, and I’m always looking towards the next painting, trying to make it better and knowing my work isn’t perfect. I have thought about having a gallery but if I paint on my own in my studio I can just get on with it. I don’t know if I would like to paint with people looking at me. I don’t think I’d get anything finished.”
Website: www.wildlifeartneilpatey.com
First Published March 2011 By The Dart
