Paul Stone British, Contemporary

Yorkshire-based artist Paul Stone became a full-time painter in 2008, bringing to his practice a first-class degree in History of Art and a Master’s in Contemporary Fine Art Practice from Sheffield. Working from South Yorkshire, he has developed a sustained and focused body of work, each year building upon an established foundation.

Stone specialises in still life painting, drawing on the familiar objects of daily life and presenting them with a distinctly contemporary clarity. Working in oils within a framework of classical realism, he employs controlled light and shadow to articulate surface, texture and spatial presence. His compositions frequently combine fruit and vegetables with carefully selected found objects, lending renewed attention to the ordinary. Plain, often neutral backgrounds serve to isolate these arrangements, directing the viewer’s attention towards form and placement. Composition remains central, informed by an engagement with Spanish and Dutch still life painting of the eighteenth century, alongside later artists such as William Nicholson.