Alexander MacFaul
The Thames at twilight, a rain-veiled Manhattan, an autumn morning at Ampleforth – generous washes of light and colour characterise Alex MacFaul’s contemporary cityscapes and landscapes. These are paintings suffused with mood, movement and emotion.
‘I wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember,’ he says. ‘I was always drawingthrough my classes at Ampleforth and the monks never stopped me. Father Leo, my housemaster, recognised that I was passionate about art and he made sure I was supported by the school. There was a great art department and I was given the space toreally enjoy learning, to develop a love of my subject.’
Today 36 year-old Alex’s studio is in a converted sweet factory in London’s east end, ‘a very bohemian place, full of other artists, instrument makers, recording studios and so on.’ The nurturing of his creativity in those early years at Gilling Castle and Ampleforth has borne fruit. After a foundation course at Chelsea College of Art, Alex studied graphic design at Camberwell and went on to graduate from Christ Church College, Canterbury with an MA in fine art. Since then his work has won national awards and is shown in galleries in London and Manchester.
This success didn’t come overnight. Surviving as a young artist meant taking whatever jobs came to hand, ‘in shops, restaurants, factories.’ But the Ampleforth education was not just about his study subject, Alex recalls. ‘It was more of a preparation for life, and it helped me to make the most of whatever situation I found myself in, whatever kind of people I came across. There was a very relaxed, friendly ethos at Ampleforth. It was based on the Benedictine principles and it taught us a sense of generosity and responsibility towards our fellow men.’
When he left school in 1990 and headed for London, Alex gave Ampleforth little thought.But six years later he found himself drawn back to North Yorkshire and spent a year living and painting in the village of Oswaldkirk, a couple of miles down the road. Then, in 2000, he was invited to become Ampleforth’s artist-in-residence. Although initially nervous at the thought of working, and living, in his former school, it turned out to be an enjoyable and enriching experience.
‘As an adult I was immediately aware of what a tight-knit community it is. I was also able to observe the special Ampleforth pupil-teacher relationship very clearly. It’s a peaceful place and I produced work that I was happy with, and that sold well, while I was there.’
Today Alex finds Ampleforth is a constant for him. He is still in touch with many of his school friends and, whenever he returns to the valley, the monks are always interested in whatever is happening in his life. It’s a thread, he says, that’s very easy to pick upeach time.
‘They were generous in encouraging me to follow my dream,’ he concludes, ‘even though it went beyond the curriculum. Now I try and do the same thing in my ownteaching. I try and encourage people not tobe railroaded into things, but to be theirown person.’