Geoff Yeomans

Geoff Yeomans (1934-2021), known as “Geoff the Rust”, was a prolific painter, printmaker, poet and photographer with a sharp eye for detail and a preternatural skill at drafting. Born in Birkenhead, England, to a merchant seaman father and a seamstress mother, Yeomans developed a strong personal style based on bold, forceful, yet precise application of paint. After studying at Laird School of Art in 1954, he continued at the Liverpool School of Art until 1956, and then Birmingham Polytechnic from 1976-1977, completing his studies.

Following that, he spent much of his career as an artist simultaneously teaching, becoming Head of Fine Art at Nuneaton College of Art, during which time he produced some of his arguably most sublime works. On retiring in 1985, he moved to West Wales, although in 1988 he worked with the Williamson as a Unilever artist in residence for the centenary of Port Sunlight village. Since then, he mostly stayed in West Wales and was exhibited widely in the area.

Because of his technical ability and extreme attention to detail, Yeoman’s work has always edged towards photo-realism, although in later years his paintings were conducted on such a macro scale that the photorealistic nature of the images begins to take second fiddle to his application of colour and use of contrast and vibrancy, as seen in the Rust series. It is fascinating to view Yeomans’ work evolve over time, as he applies his uncanny ability to simulate the world we live in to different subjects at different scales; from hyper-realistic portraits to landscape scenes of ports, to close-ups of richly textured, peeling and rusting ship-sides, old doors and rocks.

During his career, Yeomans held many exhibitions throughout the U.K., and his work is housed in several large public galleries, as well as in private collections. Penrhiw Priory study is dedicated to 5 pieces of Geoff’s Rust work whilst his largest painting, the 7 metre long, Tugboats at Porth y Rhaw is exhibited in the Link corridor of Twr y Felin Hotel.