Dugald Stark was born in 1957 and first showed an interest in serious painting at the age of 13. It was a series of long solitary walks in the country as a teenager which gave him a purpose and turned him to the love of light and atmosphere in the landscape. However, as an artist Dugald is completely self taught.
At the age of 20, he suffered a serious road accident and was paralysed from the chest down. After a year in hospital, he was preparing for a life ahead confined to a wheelchair when, to the doctors’ amazement, the paralysis began to wear off and he made a 100% recovery. It was during this time that he met his wife, Adel, who nursed him through the months in hospital. They were married a year later in Adel’s village in the Philippines.
From 1981 until 1991, Dugald was Head of Art at Ashfold Prep School at Dorton House, Buckinghamshire. He and his family lived in the grounds of this wonderful Jacobean House set in glorious countryside amid the Vale of Aylesbury. For Dugald this was his first chance to live in the countryside rather than just being a visitor. He spent these years happily immersed in intimately exploring every corner of the landscape, enjoying painting open views as well as quiet corners whose appeal might not be instantly apparent until perhaps observed in the right light and season. In particular he was inspired by sunlight and shadows which could create an emotional charge to a particular subject. He also began to look more to the discoveries made by the Impressionists portraying the sunlight in stronger colours, offset against optical mixtures of cooler shades within the shadowed areas.
But increasingly, Dugald was being attracted to the excitement of painting the sea. In 1986 he bought his home at Trebarwith Strand having fallen in love with such an exciting and completely different location. While continuing to work in Buckinghamshire he bought his family to spend holidays by the coast. In 1991, they decided to make the move permanent. The rugged coastal scenery of Trebarwith Strand is dominated by the giant offshore Gull Rock and the beach itself offers rock pools, caves and amazing shapes in the rocks weathered by the sea. The sun setting by Gull Rock, shining through mountainous waves breaking against the forbidding dark slate creates a drama almost impossible to describe. Such a location is an endless inspiration to Dugald and he feels especially privileged to live and work in such a place. Unfortunately, in recent years a reoccurrence of his spinal cord problem has made getting about and painting on location more difficult.
Dugald has exhibited his paintings widely throughout the South West and around London with many one man shows to his name. He has also exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.