Born 1977, James McQueen is an artist living between New York & London where he has been an actor for over 30 years.. “I’ve always been a lover of art. My grandfather read and had a huge collection of Penguin books, which I was fascinated by as a child. He would often read them to me but I was more interested in the way they looked. I started my own Penguin book collection as an adult and decided I wanted to own a life size canvas version. I had no desire to buy one, so started to create my own. I painted one to begin with, then a neighbour of mine expressed his interest and friends started asking too. I soon had other people requesting commissions.” Planning and painting the books was always something James enjoyed doing in his spare time and still is. “It’s always just been a bit of fun to me and always will be! Having a collection of more than 300 Penguin books myself, I just love everything about them. Recreating different versions of the old classics is a pleasure.” The finished articles are designed to reflect the age of the books, using layers and layers of paint, which are then sanded down to create amazing patina, and finished with lacquer. “My work is designed so that people can own affordable pieces of art to enjoy.”