About Me
Welcome to my new website. Until recently I worked under the name Artfortyeight – you might have come across me at Goodwood, Silverstone and other historic motorsport events over recent years. In that time I have been lucky enough to meet hundreds of fellow motorsport enthusiasts, many of whom have become great friends, supporters and customers; this has all brought me to a point where now, as an established motorsport artist, it’s time to work under my own name: Jonathan Carter, known to most as Joff.
My admiration for the ‘golden era’ of motorsport was nurtured from boyhood by my late father (himself an artist), who as well as having a soft spot for racing’s underdogs – Parnell and Wharton especially – also loved restoring old motorbikes, the smell of Castrol R, and heading off to gatherings of fellow enthusiasts in his 1959 Alfa Giulietta Spider.
Having obtained a degree in Graphic Design, I worked as an artist and illustrator before sidestepping into the world of commercial graphics and print production for 11 years. This stint in digital media completely reinvigorated the way I work; my originals combine traditional techniques with high technology in evocative, illustrative compositions that often feature text, vignettes or snippets of memorabilia and reveal a little more with every closer inspection.
1988-91
St Martin’s and Bath schools of art, BA (Hons) Graphic Design/Illustration.
1991-2001
Worked as painter and illustrator, specialising in architectural studies and decorative animal ‘icons’ painted on reclaimed wooden panels. During this time I exhibited at various galleries, selling work to collectors in the UK, US, France, Italy and Australia.
1999-2010
With the arrival of digital technology I changed direction, setting up and then managing the UK pre-press studio for a well-known US mail order company; along the way I became a specialist in colour management, image retouching and print production.
2010-present
Early in 2010 a company restructure freed me from the 9-to-5, offering a long overdue opportunity to head back to the studio. Focused this time on motorsport, I wanted to explore the potential for combining my print-and-pixel expertise with my traditional paint-and-pencils background. With lots of experimentation, I soon got ‘back in the saddle’ and began to create work I was happy with – enough to take my first exhibition stand at the Goodwood Revival in 2012. The feedback I received that weekend was overwhelmingly positive and since then, I’ve shown at many other events including Silverstone Classic, Race Retro, Autosport International, Festival of Speed, the Classic and Sports Car Show and the Royal Automobile Club’s Art of Motoring Exhibition.