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Meet the Arthitects (May 2008)

Millennium Bridge at Night by James Aynsley

The Journal’s Karen Dent reports on Art Evolution James Aynsley, artist and architectural assistant.

Architects have a love of design and landscape, but few make the leap into becoming a full time artist. The Journal’s Karen Dent meets James who did.
THE North East’s developing horizons are providing inspiration for a crop of artists who have switched from creating buildings to creating pictures of them.
Art and architecture have always been closely interlinked but the need for an architect to demonstrate accuracy with a pen and ink is no longer as necessary as it once was because computer-aided design is increasingly replacing the draughtsman’s dexterity at the drawing board.
However, there is a market for those skills as more clients seek pictures of their homes or look for art reflecting the changing North East skyline.
James Aynsley, an architectural assistant working in Newcastle, paints watercolours of cityscapes mainly inspired by the North East.

“The Newcastle Quayside is my favourite place. I have painted the Quayside from may different angles in different lights,” he said.

“It’s a combination of new and old – the Tyne Bridge is iconic then you have the Millennium Bridge, and the Baltic and the Sage are both prominent.”

Aynsley, who graduated from Northumbria University in 2001 and lives in Northumberland, uses a combination of freehand drawing and computer design at the architectural practice where he works.

He said: “The finished building plans, elevations and technical drawings has shifted to computer. It’s more be flexible. If you have a computer model you can rotate that model and get different viewpoints.”

Although he enjoys his career in architecture, Aynsley admits he would jump at the chance to work purely as an artist.

To see Jame’s work visit the Art Evolution gallery at www.artevolution.co.uk

June 20, 2008 1:21pm