Steven Binks
There’s far more to celebrated watercolour artist, Steven Binks than merely paintings of vintage agricultural machinery, although the compositioning of classic tractors does tend to account for a lot of the popular rural artist’s time it would appear judging by his back catalogue. For a start, he’s been actively involved (with friend and creative collaborator, Justin Carpenter) in designing and originating traditional pub signs since 1978, while examples of his signature paintings are in the process of being transformed into jigsaws – with a little manufactured help from Gibsons Games - as we write.
Meanwhile, Binks is working on the production of eco-friendly scarecrows as well, according to his website. We kid thee not. Binks’ Eco-Friendly Scarecrows tm doesn’t require electric, batteries nor gas cylinders, relying purely on the advent of wind as a natural force. Made from a heavy duty construction they can withstand many years of usage apparently. And then there’s Binks’ friend, Matt Cardle. A name that will be familiar to fans of ITV1’s pop-star-finding reality show, ‘The X Factor’ as he was the show’s 2010 winner if you recall. Now there’s a little peach of a relatively unknown fact, we’re sure.
Born in 1959 in the East Anglian county of Suffolk, Binks went straight from secondary school to art college; opting to study Graphic Design at nearby Colchester Art School. The establishment where indie band, Blur’s frontman, Damon Albarn’s father, Keith taught art as it happens (small world + popular music link two). Since leaving a higher educational surround Binks has forged a successful career painting watercolours, a large amount of originals which have gone on to being commercially reproduced in various forms including fine art prints and greetings cards.
As we hinted at the top though, it’s tractors which have been Binks’ illustrative mainstay since deciding to make a living from painting, although other farming scenes, from portraits to landscapes are available. And not content with just recreating the likeness of them on canvas, Binks has lovingly restored his very own slice of vintage farm hardware, his beloved 1947 Fordson "E27N", which can also be seen working at local events each year.
As his empire continues to expand and breach new (related) territories, look out for Binks’ porcelain plates and bone china coffee mugs, all lifting various beautifully lavished original watercolours that the artist has created somewhere down the line, before seeing another potential creative avenue of exposure. Place mats, coasters and lap trays are also part and parcel of Binks’ enterprising collaboration with ‘Country Artists’ who manufacture the diverse pieces. And have we mentioned the weathervanes yet? No? Well, Binks’ is responsible for designing a collection of them too.
But returning to his main earner, and looking a little closer at Binks’ greeting cards designs, and we discover that the subject matter is pretty far-ranging here, encapsulating everything from (yes, of course) tractors and other agricultural machinery to fire engines, motorbikes, buses and traction engines. Via an array of sports players, horse scenes (albeit farm based), fishing, Morris dancing and windmills. Throw in some montages of 1990s Hot Hatch sportcars, a couple of pub vistas and some construction equipment, and you get an (expansive) idea of just what Binks is capable of when he’s wielding a paintbrush.
Meanwhile, Binks is working on the production of eco-friendly scarecrows as well, according to his website. We kid thee not. Binks’ Eco-Friendly Scarecrows tm doesn’t require electric, batteries nor gas cylinders, relying purely on the advent of wind as a natural force. Made from a heavy duty construction they can withstand many years of usage apparently. And then there’s Binks’ friend, Matt Cardle. A name that will be familiar to fans of ITV1’s pop-star-finding reality show, ‘The X Factor’ as he was the show’s 2010 winner if you recall. Now there’s a little peach of a relatively unknown fact, we’re sure.
Born in 1959 in the East Anglian county of Suffolk, Binks went straight from secondary school to art college; opting to study Graphic Design at nearby Colchester Art School. The establishment where indie band, Blur’s frontman, Damon Albarn’s father, Keith taught art as it happens (small world + popular music link two). Since leaving a higher educational surround Binks has forged a successful career painting watercolours, a large amount of originals which have gone on to being commercially reproduced in various forms including fine art prints and greetings cards.
As we hinted at the top though, it’s tractors which have been Binks’ illustrative mainstay since deciding to make a living from painting, although other farming scenes, from portraits to landscapes are available. And not content with just recreating the likeness of them on canvas, Binks has lovingly restored his very own slice of vintage farm hardware, his beloved 1947 Fordson "E27N", which can also be seen working at local events each year.
As his empire continues to expand and breach new (related) territories, look out for Binks’ porcelain plates and bone china coffee mugs, all lifting various beautifully lavished original watercolours that the artist has created somewhere down the line, before seeing another potential creative avenue of exposure. Place mats, coasters and lap trays are also part and parcel of Binks’ enterprising collaboration with ‘Country Artists’ who manufacture the diverse pieces. And have we mentioned the weathervanes yet? No? Well, Binks’ is responsible for designing a collection of them too.
But returning to his main earner, and looking a little closer at Binks’ greeting cards designs, and we discover that the subject matter is pretty far-ranging here, encapsulating everything from (yes, of course) tractors and other agricultural machinery to fire engines, motorbikes, buses and traction engines. Via an array of sports players, horse scenes (albeit farm based), fishing, Morris dancing and windmills. Throw in some montages of 1990s Hot Hatch sportcars, a couple of pub vistas and some construction equipment, and you get an (expansive) idea of just what Binks is capable of when he’s wielding a paintbrush.