ANDREW GIFFORD

To say that Andrew Gifford has a restless spirit may be one of the world’s greatest understatements. Over the course of more than three hours in his Brighton studio, he doesn’t sit down once, preferring instead to hop around the room, pulling out paintings for his gallery assistant to take away for his next exhibition and regaling us with endless stories, theories and unfulfilled ambitions. Like the time he caught a bat with his bare hands in a French chateau. Or his theory that the great Renaissance artists weren’t really interested in religion, they just happened to be commissioned by religious people. Or how he hopes to make a life-size painting of the huge tree opposite his studio, if only he can find a company willing to make a canvas large enough.

However, is here to talk about his painting techniques and, refreshingly for