Chris Dews was born in the Isle of Wight, UK, and is the son of one of Britain’s most celebrated marine artists, Steven Dews. He now lives in Auckland and is an artist in his own right. Chris tells us his story.
I briefly studied art in high school around 2010, but found it extremely difficult to meet the NCEA standard and became so frustrated that I put down the brushes for three and a half years. In 2018 I spent a week with my father, Steven Dews, who is a world class marine artist based in the Bay of Islands and he got me into oils. My father would be my greatest inspiration as he has created a lifestyle that we all dream of out of his passion for the ocean. Also being a great mentor, he showed me artists that were completely different to him so I never became blinded by the idea of copying him. Monet would be my pick of the bunch, as I’ve always preferred chaos to perfection. After studying photography and going on some cool shoots for brands such as Corona and Air New Zealand, I moved to Australia to get a better shot at making it big. Unfortunately, I fell in love with a model while on a nude shoot for the ‘Mad Hueys’ and followed her across the globe to Scotland where she was studying. During that cold, dark six months it was a struggle to stay happy, surfing in waters that were three degrees celsius and missing my friends and family back home. So one day, I was walking home down Princess Street and stopped into a convenience store, picked up some cheap watercolours and some thick paper. I never thought anything of it at the time; I only wanted to see some warm water waves and palm trees in order to keep me sane.
Visit Chris' facebook page here.
