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About Simon

Simon Canacott was born in Reigate in 1964. He is a self-taught artist, with no formal training, but has possessed a natural ability to draw and paint for as long as he and his family can remember. At college he studied and qualified as an engineer, which included a great deal of technical drawing and draughtsmanship. This attention to detail and understanding of perspective can be observed in his pen and ink drawings of architecture and street and town scenes.

During the 1990s Simon represented England in the sport of Karate, competing regularly. Until 2007 he was a Karate Instructor (3rd Dan), running his own very successful, league winning club. Simon also holds a Commercial Pilots Licence and is a qualified Flying Instructor. He is also a very keen motorcyclist. He has worked as a Motorcycle Riding Instructor and is a qualified Motorcycle Technician.

Back to painting: Simon works in many mediums, including watercolour, acrylic, oil, pastels and pen and ink, either on their own or as mixed mediums. All his oil paintings are produced using Michael Harding handmade oil paints: the finest oil paints on the market today. His subject matter ranges from landscape to still life, seascape to life and architecture to wildlife. His artwork has been used in advertising and also to illustrate several books, manuals, magazines, calendars, postcards, greetings cards, wedding and business stationery, as well as corporate art, adorning the walls of many receptions and boardrooms.

Simon continues to develop his skills as a painter, exhibiting in galleries mainly in the South East (including solo exhibitions) and with his work held in private collections in the UK, France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Pakistan, South Africa, Canada and the United States.