With more time on his hands due to Covid-19 restrictions, 79-year-old Robin Tuplin has once again picked up his paintbrushes and rediscovered his passion for art at New Pooles Lodge, in Fishponds, Bristol.
Robin originally started painting back in the 1970’s under some very expert guidance. “I got chatting to one of my work colleagues, who was always sketching, and I was intrigued,” he explains. “His name was Barrington Tabb, he was self-taught and later became a very famous Bristol painter, with many local, national and international exhibitions. I told him that I might be interested in sketching, so he bought me a book about Vincent Van Gogh, which got me hooked! I bought some oil paints from the local art shop, and that is where my painting journey began.”
Before moving to New Pooles Lodge, Robin had lived in a large family home in Totterdown ever since his childhood. “After my mother passed away I lived there alone for several years,” he says. “I used the front bedroom as my painting studio. However, in recent years I decided it was time for a fresh start and a move to somewhere new. When I came to New Pooles Lodge I didn’t bring any of my oil paints with me as I felt they’d be too smelly and messy for a brand new apartment, but I did bring some of my paintings and great memories.”
“After I moved here I used to very much enjoy going to the local pub. However, since the lockdown I can no longer visit the pub, so I decided to rejuvenate my passion for painting. Rather than using oil, I am trying to get used to a slightly different paint medium; that of acrylics. It’s given me something productive to focus on during the pandemic and I’ve really become re-inspired by the challenge.”
The results are certainly impressive. The Lodge Manager and Owners are proud to have such a talented artist in their midst. Who knows, perhaps he will go on to inspire the next Barrington Tabb!