Neil Driver

Clyde, Central Otago

Neil Driver lives in Clyde and started his painting career in 1973. He has a studio at home that overlooks the Clutha River and he draws inspiration from the Central Otago landscape, still life and interiors looking through open doors and windows. 

Neil Driver’s style of painting is most commonly called ‘realist’. He uses many layers of thin acrylic paint, slowly building up tone and colour. Using the process of observation and analysis, Neil often changes reality by reassembling and altering elements within each painting. What at first sight appears to be a photographic-like image is in fact a reordering of the actual scene. The landscapes and interiors are empty of people, but open doors and chairs acknowledge their presence. Through light and shadow, Neil punctuates his paintings with a mood of stillness and calmness which give his paintings a timeless quality.