James Rushton: 1928-2025

Artist Statement

For most of his working life James was concerned with ceramics as a way of earning a living, both as a lecturer and practising potter. Gradually, he returned to his first love which was and always has been painting. He worked in oil, watercolour, gouache and pastel, whichever suited the mood of the moment. Painting a portrait in watercolour was always for him an exciting challenge but perhaps best achieved through the medium of oil. Indeed, portraiture was his preferred activity although landscape was a constant source of fascination and had more to do with mood and atmosphere than topographical constraints. When outdoors, sketching and the camera were useful tools, but the serious work was confined to the studio. Wordsworth’s phrase ‘Emotion recollected in tranquility’ comes to mind. He had few role models or heroes and allegiance changed with the weather, but if he were to name three contemporary painters who influenced him, they would be Paul Nash, Peter Greenham and Giorgio Morandi, all for different reasons.

Method of Working

"I use both watercolour and oil, with occasional sorties into pastel and printmaking. Watercolour is an ideal medium for registering momentary or figurative sensations and I think spontaneity is of the essence. Painting a portrait in watercolour is always an exciting challenge, but perhaps best achieved through the medium of oil, which is more versatile and less confining. A tutor of mine, a notable watercolourist, regarded any mixed media with scorn. Such a purist attitude is not fashionable nowadays, and in truth, artists have always experimented with various media and used, not only the brush, but fingers, sponges, rags, blotting paper – anything which comes to hand and helps to achieve the desired effect. Although I paint landscapes and sometimes still life, portraiture is my preferred activity, mainly because of the challenge and the difficulty and, of course, the ultimate satisfaction if things go right."

Biographical Details

1960-82 Lecturer and finally Principal Lecturer in Ceramics at North Staffs Polytechnic; Assessor for the NCDAD; Designer for the ceramics industry
​1943-52 Edward Orme School, Newcastle-under-Lyme; Burslem Art School, Stoke-on-Trent; Royal College of Art, London

Other Society Memberships

Royal Watercolour Society

Past Exhibitions

Stoke-on-Trent City Art Gallery
Ashgate Gallery
Pelican Gallery, Cambridge
Hobbergate Gallery
Mitsubishi, Tokyo
Burlington Fine Art
Keele University
International Watercolour Exhibition, Barcelona
The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition
RA Summer Exhibition (Regular Exhibitor)