Neil Carroll

Neil Carroll is a British painter celebrated for his elegant, contemporary approach to still-life oils. Born and based in London, he is largely self-taught, having nurtured a quiet ambition to paint while balancing the practical demands of work and routine. Though he received no formal art-school training, his commitment to observing the everyday gradually became a vocation. He began working seriously in oils around 2011 and by 2017 had turned painting into his full-time profession. 

Carroll’s subjects are drawn from humble domestic life – fruit, jars, flowers, simple vessels – arranged with a deliberate sense of restraint. He paints not to reproduce what lies before him but to create a mood and a sense of atmosphere. He often strips away detail, working broadly and intuitively so that colour, light and shadow do as much storytelling as the objects themselves. Loose, expressive brushwork invites the viewer to recognise the subject while simultaneously appreciating the surface of paint and the play of suggestion versus recognition. His stated aim is to remove as much literal description as possible, letting the emotional quality of the scene emerge. The result is a refreshingly modern take on a classical genre: still life that feels both timeless and distinctly current. 

Recognition for Carroll’s quietly powerful work came early, with a painting selected for the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London in 2014. Since then, his paintings have been shown in galleries across the United Kingdom and collected internationally. His contemporary sensibility makes his work a natural fit for Forest Gallery, whose focus on still-life paintings is enriched by his ability to bridge traditional subject matter with a modern painterly language. 

Today Carroll continues to refine his technique, exploring how little is needed to evoke presence and mood. Whether on a small panel or a larger canvas, his paintings ask viewers to pause, look closely and rediscover the quiet beauty of simple things.