What Do You See?
It was rural Spain in the region of Murcia. I had to walk an hour into the local small town. This walk would involve passing by an intensive factory farm for pigs in Bullas, Murcia. I was horrified, and would try to limit the times I left for town. Sometimes when walking past I cried, other times I put my headphones on to drown it out. I tried to find solace in the beautiful surrounding landscape but it just made it worse by the knowledge this pig farm was a cruel and disgusting blight on what was beautiful surroundings. The lemon, grape and almond tree fields, the mountains, the wooded areas, the dried up river bed with its forgotten trinkets & caves. All this was ruined by the squealing sound of pigs in agony, forced to live in a confined space with nothing to look forward to but being put out of the misery I could hear and smell. I find as a lifelong vegetarian and now longstanding vegan that so much of my art is about challenging prescribed masculinity and how it relates to animals. Also about trying to express the beauty of what this world could be without the blight of cruelty and greed from us as a species. I paint the peace and joy I find when escaping into nature or simply allowing myself to soak up colours like a hungry sponge.
BIO
Robbie Potter is a self taught artist. When he returned to painting after gaining a philosophy degree at university he had the appreciation and mentality of looking at things in more depth. It was a time of growth both conceptually and perceptually that helped take his painting to another level. Since then he has spent time in rural Spain refining his skills and becoming more prolific in his technique and general production. He has sold a number of paintings internationally to multiple continents and has been accepted into art exhibitions and events in Paris, Barcelona, New York, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. He has also progressed into doing a steady stream of commissioned paintings as the word of his art has spread. As well as teaching classes.
Robbie is a vegan and animal rights activist. He tries to make sure his paintings contain no animal products, deeming it unnecessary in order to create great art.