About Ted Hiscock - Painter and Artist

Born 1946 in Wellington, Somerset, Ted was always exposed to art and music. His father was a keen water painter of his native Somerset countryside and a cousin of his mother’s, Tony Griffin, was a talented professional artist, and a big influence on Ted’s formative artistic years.

At school Ted’s favourite subject was always art. He excelled at O Level and won the school art prizes most years. However when it came to deciding on a career, torn between music, art and medicine, Ted chose to further his studies in the sciences. Medicine, with its challenges, won through.

In 1966 Ted came to Birmingham to further his medical studies. Even then, he always found the city an exciting challenge after the comparative rural quietness of Somerset. And whilst now having practised medicine as a GP in Birmingham for over thirty years, he has watched the city grow and metamorphose into the great centre it is today at the heart of the frequently misunderstood but beautiful West Midlands. In particular, the canals of the region never cease to fascinate him with their unique idiosyncrasy, ever-changing atmosphere and reflective light where he constantly finds affinity for painting.

It was not until his late forties that Ted actively started pursuing his creative interest again. In 1993, his wife, Kate, gave him a starter set of oil paints and a few small boards to play with. At first he found the thought intimidating, but when Kate later presented him with a larger canvas to try, he realised that this was his style, large and colourful with an intent to capture the ever-changing reflection of light in the environment.

Cousin of his mother, Berkhamstead painter, sculptor and stained glass window designer Tony Griffin, was a big influence on Ted’s formative artistic years. In 2001, Lady Valerie Corbett, impressed by what she saw, urged Ted to take his art to “Number Nine The Gallery”, an imposing gallery, nestled on the edge of Birmingham’s most prestigious and fashionable area, Brindleyplace. Equally as impressed, Lee Benson owner of Number Nine and a key figure in the art market, recommended Ted receive intensive instruction from David Mynett at the Can Xenet School of Art in Majorca. Ted followed his advice and in October 2004, Ted held his first successful exhibition of oil paintings for 10 days at Number Nine.

In January 2005, Ted was elected Chairman of the 75-year-old charity, Friends of Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, and during his two years of chairmanship, was committed to attracting a younger membership and to increasing the profile of this excellent organisation.

In October 2006, Ted held his second successful exhibition at Number Nine The Gallery, with special guest the actor, David Suchet (a long-term school friend), when an oil painting of a canal basin near Lichfield, Staffordshire sold for £1000 and all proceeds were donated to the charity Lichfield & Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust by him and Lee Benson of Gallery Number Nine. It was during this exhibition that Ted felt it was timely for display of some of his first collection of oil, charcoal and pencil nudes.

In 2008, Ted painted on site whilst a commemorative bridge was opened by the Mayor of Lichfield City in the presence of the MP, the Hon. Mr Michael Fabricant and dignitaries from the two European twinned cities of Germany and France. In May 2009, the finished painting was presented to the incoming Mayor at his investiture banquet and hangs in the Mayoral Chambers at Lichfield.

Currently, Ted’s paintings sales are scattered across the UK and also in the USA, Australia, Canada, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Lithuania and Albania. Now his professional work as a doctor has reduced he is hoping for another exhibition in Birmingham in the not too distant future.