Miles Cole returned to painting in 2012 after a fifteen-year hiatus, during which he built a successful career as an illustrator, regularly contributing to The Economist, Tatler, The Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
His work is rooted in the tradition of British and European post-war Modernism, particularly abstract painting. Drawing inspiration from his experience of place — whether it’s the rugged landscape of the Cornish coast or the random geometry of walking through the city of London — these serve as starting points for an intuitive painting process. This process involves layering with palette knives, scratching back, adding texture with wax or marble dust, sanding down, and embracing the role of accident and chance until the initial subject matter is transformed into pure abstraction.
Music also plays a significant role in his work, with many paintings named after jazz tunes. Titles like "Point of Departure" and "Extrapolation," for example, reference jazz musicians improvising around a structure, continuously refining, elaborating, and reworking their theme.
