© 2010 Chris Whittaker

Chris Whittaker

Chris Whittaker was born in Cheshire in 1941 and his lived most of his life in the Cheshire/Lancashire/Yorkshire “triangle” with odd sorties into Derbyshire.  He studied at Manchester School of Art then worked within Adult Education as a lecturer passing on his enthusiasm to a wide range of students.  Prior to retirement Chris brought his creative skills to the post of Assistant Principal at the Scarborough College for Further Education in a management role.

Throughout his working career Chris has continued to develop his talent using multi-media in painting and drawing as well as being a prolific writer of both poetry and pose. His cartoons and caricatures provide an insight into his wry sense of humour as well as offering an intriguing insight into other areas of his world.  Since retiring Chris and his wife, Julia, spend time between their homes in York and Júbar in Las Alpujarras.  The work shown on the website illustrates Chris’s love for both places plus a deep enjoyment of his family.  The wonderful range of colour in the Spanish paintings reflects the unique light of Las Alpujarras in southern Spain, the starkness of some of the York paintings contrast sharply but also highlight the different aspects of Chris’s life in the North.

During the development of the website Chris discovered a new dimension to his work observing extra details in brushwork and application of paint which are enhanced by the transposition to a digital format. The process also enabled Chris to draw directly onto the screen. I hope viewers of the site will enjoy the work as much as I do and come to appreciate the complex, interesting, talented artist that is Chris Whittaker.

Jane Smith, MA History of Art