Stuart Storey is a professional artist working from his home studio home near Twickenham in south west London, and became the ‘official artist of the Wheelbase Fred Whitton Challenge’ in 2021. We caught up with him to learn a bit more about what he does…
Tell us about your art?
I create, bold and vibrant cycling inspired artwork, generally in acrylics on canvas or by creating sculptures using recycled bike parts. Much of my inspiration come from the places I have ridden, recreating the images I see while riding that the camera never quite captures.
What are your favourite cycling subjects?
I have created cycling pieces inspired by classic cycling destinations at home and abroad, Mont Ventoux, The Alps, The Surrey Hills and the Peak District have all been popular, but the Lakes are by far and away my favourite.
How did you come to be the official artist of the FWC?
A previous finisher of the Wheelbase Fred Whitton Challenge, bought a painting I’d done of Winnats Pass in the Peak District, he then asked me to paint a commission of him on Hardknott Pass, in a similar style – that was the first step.
Then I was lucky to get a late entry to the rescheduled event in Sept 2021. It was epic, all weathers and inspired a number of pieces including Kirkstone Pass, Honister and Hardknott in particular.
It felt like there was an opportunity building, so a friend suggested I get in touch with Paul Loftus MBE to see if there was a way that we could work together – thankfully there was! He invited me to exhibit at the 2022 event and we agreed that 10% of all takings would be donated to the event charities.
The 2022 event was your first event as ‘official artist’ – what did you do?
Initially I created a painting of Hardknott Pass to mark the start of our collaboration which was posted on the Wheelbase Fred Whitton Challenge Facebook page – within 20 minutes the painting sold twice! A little embarrassing!
As a result, I got a set of 50 limited edition prints made and sold a few through my website.
At the event weekend, I had a pop-up gallery where I was selling the prints, original pieces and all my other bike art including chainring clocks, crank arm toilet roll holders – it was a great success, all the prints sold and I met loads of people who enjoyed looking at my work – a real boost!
So what about 2023?
The plan is to build on the initial success, I’ll be creating a new print for 2023, this time based on the top hairpin of Hardknott and we’ll be sharing more about that at the end of the year – the pic below shows the initial work!
I’ve just painted a picture to celebrate the Wheelbase Fred Whitton Challenge reaching the £2 million fundraising mark, this will be auctioned at a celebration dinner in September.
In the meantime, if you’re interested, take a look at my website at www.stuartstoreyart.com
Thank you Stuart for giving this great insight and for kindly offering 10% of all your takings to our special charities. If you like Stuart’s work please check out his website (link above) or keep an eye on social media for limited edition releases. See you all in May.