He’s made quite a name for himself as the folk bard of Brighouse, but singer/songwriter Roger Davies is also a dab hand with a paintbrush.
The musician, who has penned favourites such as Brighouse on a Saturday Night, Wear Your Poppy With Pride, Percy Shaw and Huddersfield Town, has just launched his first-ever art exhibition.
And it would appear that his paintings are just as popular as his songs. Within a few days more than half the 40 or so pictures, selling for around £500 to £750, were snapped up by buyers eager to have one of his works.
Roger, who has four solo albums behind him, admits that it had been more than two decades since he’d last painted anything much at all. “I have been concentrating on my music,” he said. “But I went to art college when I left school and had a great deal of encouragement while at high school. Last year I started doing paintings again and was invited to hold an exhibition at the Harrison Lord Gallery in Brighouse.
“Since music has become my day job, in my spare time I’m doing something constructive.”
Roger, who studied at both Batley School of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, enjoys depicting local scenes and says he’s inspired by West Yorkshire.
He explained: “I like where I live a lot; there’s plenty to paint around here. I take a picture on my phone and then go home to paint. The subjects revolve around aspects of my life, experiences and local references – just like my songs.”
His one-man show - now greatly depleted following so many sales - has paintings that feature the artist looking in on the scene and some that include the famous Pennine landscape painter Peter Brook, who was a friend of Roger and the subject of one of his songs.
While he has a style all of his own, Roger says he has long admired the work of Peter Brook, North Easterner Malcolm Teasdale, Lancashire artist LS Lowry, impressionist Van Gogh and English painter Stanley Spencer. He mostly works in acrylics but also produces charcoal drawings.
The exhibition closes on April 14 at the Harrison Lord Gallery on Bradford Road.
Meanwhile, Roger’s music career continues apace and he’s about to celebrate the release of the first album recorded with his band.
Roger Davies and His Band is being launched at a concert in the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, on Saturday, April 21. Tickets are £16.75 from victoriatheatre.co.uk or 01422 351158.
