Born in Cornwall in 1974, Andrew Tozer’s personal connection to the Cornish landscape began growing up in a farming family. An early and prolonged exposure to the landscape, he believes, laid the foundations of his art.
Andrew Tozer is both a ‘plein air’ and studio painter and is respected as a master at depicting light on water. He captures light, atmosphere, and the essence of his subject matter in paintings that conjure memories of the past whilst being firmly inspired by the present. He chooses simple subjects which move him: boats at rest in a Cornish harbour, a figure in the quiet of the studio or precious family moments.
Andrew Tozer is one of the leading contemporary painters in whose work the legacy of Impressionism resonates: landscapes are expressed with breath-taking immediacy, fleeting impressions rendered in such a way as to capture the essence of what’s there; paintings created outdoors, whatever the weather, animated by light and its transient qualities. His work contains a vibrant sense of movement and a powerful energy. The recording of ever-changing nuances of light in his surroundings show a simplicity and beauty in his work, however, this is underpinned by rigorous draftsmanship and an intensity and complexity of his paint handling. His fast, accurate, painterly language becomes clear as thin coats of colour and glazes are applied repeatedly until the painting ‘seems right’.
“In terms of painting, I am at my happiest when working outside en plein air. The paintings are a response to the subject and my own self. My work speaks of certain things: what it means to be outside, to look at and be a part of the world. Being alone in the landscape without painting makes me restless. For me, painting is a vital activity in itself: it is not like getting through the ironing, with one piece following another. Instead, painting is the place where I feel happiest alone, the place that leads me to another language, and eventually good paintings”
