Simon Burdge Artwork and Prints

    A Quiet Hilltop, A Majestic View  Climbing the hill to St Woolos Cathedral in Newport isn’t for the faint of heart, but once you reach the top, the view, the stillness, and the architectural beauty make it all worth it. This watercolour was painted a couple of years ago, inspired by that very moment. I remember pausing at the top, catching my breath, and quietly admiring how the stone structure stood so assuredly against the soft landscape. It felt timeless. A Little History... St Woolos Cathedral, or Eglwys Gadeiriol Sant Gwynllyw in Welsh, is one of the oldest functioning religious buildings in Wales. The original church is thought to have been founded in the 5th or 6th century by Saint Gwynllyw, a Welsh king who converted to Christianity. Over the centuries, it has been rebuilt, extended, and fortified—especially after attacks during the Norman era. Much of the present structure includes Norman, medieval, and Victorian elements. It was officially designat...

  A friend recommended an exhibition, but I was hesitant due to my preconceived notions about graffiti art. I believed it was mainly a form of vandalism and did not understand its appeal. Nevertheless, I visited the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea to see the exhibition. Surprisingly, the exhibition challenged my preconceptions and introduced me to various graffiti art forms and styles. It started with writing one's name on a wall and progressed to subway trains in New York, where the artists gained more exposure and publicity. Alongside the Art, the exhibition also highlighted the cultural significance of hip-hop and how it influenced the art form . As the decades passed, institutions often dismissed graffiti art as vandalism. However, the fashion industry eventually recognized the value of Art and its uniqueness, leading to its commercialization. Despite losing its edge, graffiti art's image and subject matter persisted due to its long gestation period . After leaving ...

  This collage, crafted meticulously from torn paper sourced from various magazines, stands out as one of my favourite artistic processes. Engaging in college-level art courses has expanded my creative horizons, allowing me to explore multiple new ideas and challenge my existing perspectives. Through this journey, I’ve discovered innovative ways of seeing and interpreting the world around me, which fuels my passion for artistic experimentation.  Working with collage as a dynamic medium provides endless opportunities for expression, offering a playground for my creativity and a canvas for my thoughts. I am genuinely excited about the future of my artistic endeavours, as I dive deeper into the limitless possibilities that collage art offers. You can expect to see more ambitious projects and creative explorations from me as I continue to push boundaries and develop my unique visual language.

The Zebra – Fun Fair Carousel Photography  The Zebra – A Carousel Moment of Joy As an artist, one of the most common questions I’m asked is whether I use photographs as source material for my paintings and drawings. The answer is a definite yes . Sometimes I take pictures while drawing a subject — capturing angles, lighting, and details that I might not have time to record in my sketchbook. Other times, I take photographs purely for their own sake, simply because something catches my eye and sparks my imagination. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to share some of these photographs with you — images that have inspired me in my creative work or made me smile. The first in this series is a photograph I call The Zebra . I spotted this zebra at a fun fair, proudly positioned on a carousel among other colourful creatures. There’s something irresistibly joyful about its expression — the broad grin, the upright ears, the confident tilt of the head. Its bold black-and-white stripes seem ...

 Reimagining an Old Diary The Art of Collage and Pause I've always been fond of collage—its playful, unexpected nature and the quiet "what if" questions it poses. This piece was made on an unused diary page from 2018, A4 in size. Instead of dates and meetings, I filled it with colour and shape: small rust-orange squares cut from painted paper, abstract forms in soft neutrals, sweeping brushstrokes in black ink. The composition feels almost like a necklace strung on a cord—connected, rhythmic, and anchored in movement. Collage is often how I return to my creative self when things feel too planned or rigid. I'll stop what I'm doing and let materials lead the way. These spontaneous hours build into a language of their own.  A visual journaling that bypasses words. There's a sense of calm that comes from assembling pieces that don't belong, and yet suddenly do. This piece is one of many I've made this way—layered with colour, suggestion, and possibility

A Tree by Worthing Station   A Sketch in Transit   Finding Beauty in the space between Trains A Tree by Worthing Station While waiting for a train to Brighton, I found myself outside—or perhaps on the platform—at Worthing Station. In front of me stood a tree. With a few minutes to spare, I reached for a black felt-tip pen and allowed the moment to take over. It wasn't planned, polished, or part of any series—just a quick sketch, done instinctively and without fuss. There may even have been a pint involved, courtesy of a public house across the road. What makes this drawing special to me is its simplicity. It reminds me that drawing isn't always about grand plans or hours of effort. It can be about capturing something swiftly, without judgment. And strangely, those passing sketches often stay with us the longest. This black-ink sketch evokes the tree studies by John Ruskin in the 19th century. Ruskin, too, believed in drawing as a way of seeing. While his work was often more de...

  By Simon Burdge Sketched at the British Museum, this drawing explores the symbolic power of ancient objects and the modern meanings we bring to them. During a recent visit to the British Museum, I was stopped in my tracks by a small carved figure made of amethyst. Its shape felt ambiguous—was it a figure gripping a sword, or simply someone folding their hands in stillness? I was drawn to that uncertainty and began sketching on the spot. Later, while revisiting the sketch, it reminded me of an amulet—an object designed not just to be looked at, but to be held close, trusted, and carried—a kind of spiritual tool. In the drawing, I used layers of blue and black ink, with energetic crosshatch marks and long brushstrokes to evoke a kind of atmosphere—a hard, ancient sky pressing down, or perhaps a protective energy pushing outward. The figure became less about the details and more about presence—a guardian, of sorts. Then and Now: The Amulet's Role In ancient times, amulets were often...