Philip Maltman was born on the west coast of Scotland and was deeply influenced by his art teacher, Bill Lockhart, at Carrick Academy in Maybole. Lockhart introduced modernism, jazz, and creative energy to a culturally quiet 1960s town, helping to establish one of Scotland's leading school art departments. In 1966, Maltman moved with his family to London and later studied at Hornsey College of Art during its radical period, before completing his studies at Ravensbourne. There, he staged a rebellious, anti-establishment degree show, rejecting the traditional art world. Ironically, he remains one of the few from that era still painting. Since 1974, he has lived in London with his wife Stephanie; they have two sons and four grandchildren. For over 30 years, his studio has been just beyond his garden fence, in a shared building with another artist. He considers it a privilege to paint whenever inspiration strikes.
Maltman creates paintings through a direct and deliberate engagement with the medium, manually working the paint rather than relying on technical effects or chemical experimentation. While accidents are welcomed, they are always thoughtfully considered and modified. His paintings are often accompanied by drawing and handwritten text, adding layers of meaning and personal resonance.
Since his school years, Maltman has drawn deep inspiration from James Joyce. He has met and spent time with influential artists such as Alan Davie, Bert Irvin, and Don van Vliet (Captain Beefheart), and corresponded with Robert Motherwell in the 1980s, who generously sent him rare material. He is also a dedicated collector of books on Cy Twombly.
Maltman sees painting as a struggle with the self-one that, when honest, leads to work that is emotionally complex and never neatly resolved. His practice is prolific, driven by a need to encounter something new each day. "My work deals with nature in an atomic sense in that everything is related and subjects, whether abstract or representational can co-exist with references to literature or music often being included in the work. I like the look of words."
