Gerry Defries, who considers himself a colourist in the impressionist style, has exhibited widely in England, America and France. He paints seascapes and landscapes in acrylics and has sold close to 200 works.
By Tim Saunders
During a stroll along the Thames he spied a laser boat; a small racing dinghy that he used to race in his younger day. “I took a photograph and painted it,” recalls Gerry, whose first cousin married a man from Wellington and lived there for five years before relocating to Auckland where they stayed for five years before settling in Melbourne, Australia. “It got selected by a gallery in Edinburgh and then it got moved to Glasgow. The same painting was also selected by the Mall Galleries for the Royal Society of Marine Artists exhibition. I forgot that it was already in Glasgow and couldn’t find it. So I spent the weekend producing another one. I then realised where the first one was, got that back and duly took it to the Mall Galleries. They sent a picture of it out to all their clients. One of the clients recognised the boat. The next thing I knew I got an email from this gentleman saying ‘you have painted my boat’. I thought ‘oh goodness me, I’m in trouble for breach of copyright or something’. He came to see the painting and bought it, went on my website and saw the other one and bought that as well. He then commissioned me to do another one.
