Hometime

Ken White grew up in Swindon and took up an apprenticeship in the railway works of GWR aged 15. Driven by a desire to paint professionally he gave up the steady, full time job and decided to study painting at Swindon Art College in the 1960s. After graduation Ken took a flat in London and Ken embarked on a career in commercial illustration. He designed album covers for Gilbert O’Sullivan and in 1970 his work appeared in the Beatles Illustrated Song Book.

Ken was widely recognised for his murals in 1980's London which all started when he adorned the outside walls of Richard Branson’s Town House studios in West London. He went on producing large pieces of artwork on the exteriors of places like the Intercontinental Hotel on Park Lane, Madame Tussauds, Heathrow Airport, and the Kensington & Chelsea Pools. Perhaps the best known being the faux-Georgian town house painted on the massive blank wall of the Royal Opera House overlooking the Jubilee Gardens Piazza in Covent Garden.

Throughout his career he has had an incredible relationship with Richard Branson which led Ken to work in Virgin offices, hotels and record stores across the globe for 26 years. Most notably he designed and produced the famous Scarlet Lady that used to adorn the nose cone of every Virgin jet.

One of Ken’s murals is still visible in Swindon today and he continues to work in his studio there. His more recent work consists of figurative oils and lino prints inspired by his childhood memories working on the railways in Swindon. The heavy industry defined landscape of Swindon and its inhabitants creates a rich source of inspiration for Ken's work.