Paul Cannell: Youth

Not much is known about Paul's youth. What we do know - is that when he was around 14/15 he was completely captured by the introduction of Punk Rock. It influenced his art and character strongly - and likely waves of it's effect shaped his character into adulthood. He mentions that he had 'always drawn', so he left school and went into commercial printing (cocktail serviettes, party invitations and the like). He struggled with conventional work - doing a number of odd jobs that never lasted for long, eventually deciding to try to paint - which lead him to how we know him today.

Image: Ramones. Redferns / Getty Images

interview paul cannell

Those that know me or know about the Damp Water Spot Project may know that finding any information about Paul over the years has been almost impossible. Pretty much all that people that are interested in him have had to go off is snippets from interviews, an obituary and a very old interview with him. So I'm sure it's understandable that when this came in the mail yesterday all I could do for a few minutes was sit and stare at it - it being what I assume is the only audio recording of his voice that exists - other than a home video I have from when I was young. This is the audio recording of the interview conducted by Marceline Smith in 1992 at Creation Records. Since the article itself was published - it has been pretty much the only resource for information about Paul, his work, art practices and character at that very important point in time. I know it has been incredibly beneficial personally for myself and so I cannot thank Marceline enough for both the creation of the article and for her massive contribution to this project. For Marceline's latest ventures; visit her Instagram at @marcelinesmith

face off

Here are some test prints by the wonderful @em_arts_ on Instagram

She says that she was inspired by a face that appears in a number of Cannell oil pieces and wanted to experiment with different colour palettes and print techniques to create some unique textures.

I'm very excited to see where it goes from here!