Born in Brixton, South London in 1967, Noel is an artist who comes from a humble background and has spent the past 25 years living in the county of Essex.
Noel achieved his A-Levels in Art & Design with ease but due to the necessity to earn a wage at the earliest opportunity, art colleges and a fine art degree at university weren’t an option for the artist.
Upon leaving school, Noel expressed his interest in hip-hop and graffiti by becoming involved in the street art scene in the late 1980s, working under the tag name ‘Juice 84’.
Another turning point for the artist during the 1980s was the opportunity he was given to work with accomplished artist Michael John Hill; an artist famous for misty landscape paintings that captured the essence and atmosphere of the early morning English countryside.
With Hill filling the role of mentor, Noel was working under his guidance and was introduced to oil paint and acrylics, helping Hill to paint the misty backgrounds of his landscape pieces. In working in this manner, Noel developed a strong interest in abstract expressionism.
Noel’s muses tend to stem from growing up at a time when media was brimming with supermodels such as Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista, amongst many other iconic beauties that the artist enjoys exploring and depicting in unique ways.
Committed to making his Op Art pieces stand out amongst others that share the similar traits of being black and white, he learned about and incorporated the method of diamond dusting, giving his artworks an added significance and richer quality of depth.
Noel spent many years working in sales and marketing, but the desire to pursue his creative tendencies took hold and he made the decision to become a London cab driver, freeing up more time for him to work on his art.
This career change gave the artist the opportunity and flexibility to concentrate on his artwork, creating more pieces and selling them in local markets, building an audience of admirers for his work, enabling him to realise the success of his work.
It was also in his role as a “cabbie” that he met the director of Zeno Fine Art; Luke Sparkes, picking him up in his taxi from the Frieze Art Fair in Regents Park. The pair got into a conversation about art and Noel described the Op art portraits he creates and after browsing the artist’s website, Luke made the decision to get Noel onto the Zeno Fine Art roster.