Cordell Garfield

Cordell Garfield is a Northampton based oil painter with a primary focus on portraiture and figurative works. He works with classical traditions to create representational oil paintings with a contemporary feel. His approach to art is multi-layered, and whilst he has a strong background in life drawing and traditional oil painting techniques, he will also use digital media and photographic references to create his paintings.

Cordell’s preoccupation with portraiture and figurative work has developed further with his recent work of the world-renowned Northamptonshire Boot and Shoe industry. Based on his observations and sketches from his travels to shoe factories, his artwork concentrates on capturing the highly skilled craftsmanship behind footwear production, and allows him to focus on a different approach to portraiture. Veering away from an inner psychology of a sitter, Cordell pushes towards the skill and concentration involved in the highly skilled procedures in shoe production, whilst also offering an interesting social document of factory production in the modern age.

Cordell is currently president of the Northampton Town and County Art Society, and his work has regularly been exhibited in Open Exhibitions nationally. He divides his time between commissions, exhibitions, tutoring workshops, and painting demonstrations to art societies.