I hope this page will be of use.

I made this resource page to provide a way into my work. I hope this is some help but I do realise it might be a bit too much information so do with it as you feel is right.

The spaces I choose come from an unfortunate issue I had with agoraphobia in the early 2010’s. Agoraphobia, the response to space and place for, at times, quite obscure and difficult reasons, which provoke feelings of overwhelming fear and anxiety. Sometimes it can appear from quite strange roots, but it is often seen as a response to trauma of some kind.

As a way to deal with these issues I started walking around the city, tending to stick to areas, spaces and places away from people. Gradually with time walking later and later at night as there would be fewer people around. This lead me to start looking at places that many wouldn’t normally. Some of these spaces created some very strange and quite confusing feelings but thankfully distracted me away from the agoraphobia. This made me want to investigate these places more. What was it that made me respond to a certain place or space? Most of the time I wasn’t sure but yet there was something there. A play of light, a suggestion of mystery, the feeling that something was about to happen and more would make me fascinated. I like that sense of not quite knowing yet there being a ‘tension’ of some kind. Thankfully the phase of agoraphobia ended a long time ago.

I do have some extra writing here that may be of interest talking about past ideas I’ve had about my work. Words About Andy’s work: www.andycropper.art/about

I’ve also included some videos that may be of interest at the bottom of this page

Why No People?
As I developed my style and started walking in areas where people were, I found that people were often nervous when I had my large camera out taking photos particularly at night, I would get challenged and considered suspicious by people thinking I was up to something more than I was. In response and as smartphone cameras started to get much better I found it was less noticeable and easier to use my smaller camera phone, but I also made a conscious choice not to have people in my reference shots so to make the whole act of taking photos much easier.

How Do I Choose What I Paint?
When taking a reference photo, rather than knowing what it is I’m taking a photo of, I choose not to engage with anything I have pre-knowledge of. This means I tend not to take reference photos of well known spaces. I’m looking for things, spaces, places to spark new interest. When walking around I’m looking for “happy accidents” things that I see that make me respond but I may not necessarily know why at the time. That’s where the act of painting comes as I look at my reference images, seeing what piques my interest, then slowly piece the painting together. At the same time as I construct a painting I also construct my own connections and meanings too, not when I’m taking the initial reference photo.