Mike Duckering was born in Nottingham, and moved to Devon with his family as a young boy. He first studied architecture at the University of Bath under Professor Ken Smithies, a renowned pioneer of modern architectural design theory. After graduating he worked for many years as an architect in Bristol, establishing his own practice in 1986. Art has been an ongoing interest, and after retiring from architecture, he went on to study art at the University of Gloucestershire, gaining a BA Fine Art degree in 2013. Mike now lives and works in Cheltenham, where he has a studio at Lansdown Art Studios. His work has been exhibited and sold at a number of galleries and exhibitions, including Hadfield Fine Art, Sevenhampton; Little Buckland Gallery, Broadway; the Affordable Art Fair in Bristol and the Royal West of England Academy.


Artist's statement
"The primary focus of my work is the perception of places; places that I know and inhabit, places remembered, and places visited. I seek to explore and develop my own visual interpretation and mark making, which can vary from a loose abstract reality to the wholly graphic. My work often begins as a detailed pencil drawing made directly onto the board or canvas, and whilst the ultimate image may bear little or no resemblance to this starting point, it is nevertheless a meaningful part of the final work. The subject matter is often the Cheltenham locality, and also Bristol, where I lived and worked for many years. Other sources of inspiration come from trips abroad, where the experience of different cultures provides stimulating opportunities for new work. The energy in my work reflects the strong emotional relationship that exists between humans and their environment - the spiritual and innate bond to landscape and buildings that is the essence of place."