Gaylord Meech was born in the U.S.A., and his very first memory of the world of art occurred at the age of five, when he was taken to the Art Institute in Chicago. There, he saw a painting of a bowl of cherries, so lifelike that he was tempted to reach out and take a few. It was a moment he has never forgotten, the start of a life-long fascination with the visual arts, and their power over the human imagination. From that point onwards,Gaylord yearned to create the same sort of vision that the bowl of cherries had evoked. He started in primary school by making posters illustrating children’s stories; and in secondary school painted backgrounds for puppet productions and Christmas plays. Then, as an undergraduate in the fine arts department at Syracuse University in upstate New York, he was immersed in the study of the human form, as well as the different and often conflicting aspects of nature and weather. He was subsequently accepted into the School of Design at Yale University. It was headed at that time by Josef Albers, one of the founding members of the Bauhaus School of art and architecture in Germany, which he had left when it was closed down by Hitler, on account of its avant-garde productions. There, under Albers’ watchful eye, Gaylord studied advanced techniques in drawing, colour, printmaking, sculpture, and photography. Having moved to New York City, he exhibited in two galleries, and joined a partnership of custom furniture makers. They were one of the first companies to produce Shaker-inspired furniture, and were twice written up in the New Yorker magazine. Gaylord specialised in painted decoration in the American Primitive style. He was also fortunate at that time to join a life-drawing class composed of several actors and screen writers who had been blacklisted by the Joseph McCarthy witch trials. The class included Zero Mostel, before he made his comeback to stage and screen. After ten years, Gaylord came to England on a visit, and found himself more comfortable here than in the States, and has now lived here for over forty years. He has been a member of the South East Artists’ Association, exhibited over many years in the annual Sussex Artists’ shows in Brighton, and in the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, as well as in Sussex Artists’ travelling shows. A number of his paintings were bought by American Express, and now hang in their main offices in Brighton. Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday 10.30am - 4pm; Sunday 12noon-4pm; Closed all day Monday