Featured work by Simon Gregory

Born in Burnley, Lancashire in 1961 Simon spent his formative years living between West Africa and the UK after his father (a colour technician) followed the early decline of the UK textile industry to the new mills set up abroad. From his father Simon gained an interest in colour and went on to study art to foundation level. Following college Simon initially worked in international business publishing and advertising. Over the last 20 years he has worked for the same UK company, initially as a business consultant working in the field of international trade development, frequently crossing the Atlantic as a Conference speaker and travelling throughout the US, but latterly as a conference speaker and presenter working in the field of Mergers and Acquisitions. `Whilst a UK owned business our company has offices throughout the US with the main centre located close to the New York Stock Exchange`.

`New York is a vibrant and colourful city and I want to try to capture that sense of being there`. My first trip to New York was unintentional. I was on a flight to Chicago diverted to New York JFK because of a hurricane. On arrival, I realised that I had left my wallet at home. I was stranded in a strange city with no money, needing to somehow find my way to New York`s other airport La Guardia to catch an onward flight to Chicago where colleagues would pick me up. For some reason the airline hadn't provided an onward journey to the airport and I found myself out in the street in a city of millions surrounded by those iconic 'yellow cabs' but with no money to pay my way and visions of being `lost in America`. A kindly Texan in a ten gallon hat on the same flight from the UK offered to share a cab with me. I explained my predicament but he said 'no problem I`ll pay the cab fare'.

I guess this is one reason yellow cabs form an integral part of my work. This was my first experience of New York, a dash across the city in a New York cab. The sound of the traffic, the busy push and shove of the streets, the bright lights of billboards and digital signage and the iconic yellow cabs have inspired me to want to capture something of the movement, vibrancy, and noise of the city. Hopefully I do this and for collectors of my work who've been there it reminds them of the sights, sounds and colour of their visit`.