5 Things We Learned... Tim Braden

Tim Braden is a London based painter. You can find him surrounded by paints and postcards and photography in a gloriously colourful carriage house near Kilburn station. I met Tim in 2010 (or was it 2011?) while serving as Tiffany & Co.’s in-house art curator and since then, follow his work as it ebbs and flows in realism, abstraction, and figurative forms. He studied at the St Petersburg Academy of Art, Russia; Ruskin school of Art, Oxford and as a fellow at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. He works in both painting and sculpture, incorporating various techniques and materials across media. Using different types of paint, support, and application to explore subtle shifts in space, mood and tone, Braden’s work is ultimately drawn from a close reading of his environment and an attempt to depict the act of looking at things. He is continuously looking at and re-evaluating his own work in progress to align these observations, and he often combines patches of color and light to produce scenes that recall both the specificity of personal experience and nostalgia for another time and place.

Here are 5 Things We Learned about Tim.

What made you...you?

All the people I have studied/worked alongside/exhibited with at art schools and residencies.  I learnt so much from my peers, and people I’ve met on my travels, all the most important introductions to music / film / books and artists have all happened through friends. 

When are you happiest?

Walking in the mountains with my kids. At a big table eating with friends. Swimming in the sea. That moment when making a painting stops being work and starts to make itself and you feel tuned into the world, and fearless. Serendipity.

Would you rather have a muse or be a muse?

Having a muse - nothing more exciting than being inspired. Working in the studio can be a very solitary occupation, so it helps me focus to make work as a kind of dialogue with someone in mind.

Who do you admire?

Anyone whose work gets better with success and age. David Hockney, Rose Wylie, Matisse, to name a few. To still be curious about the world and innovate in your 80s is an inspiration and life goal! 

What is important?

Bravery and honesty (and a little luck).

Portrait and all images provided by Tim.

5thingswelearnedNovember 9, 2023