Robin Gray

Born in 1942, Robin Gray has been an active caver for over 25 years. He studied fine art at the Beckenham School of Art and Ravensbourne College of Art and Design, under John Cole, the young Graham Arnold and Prof. Helmuth Weisenborn of the Bauhaus.

During the late 1960's he built a reputation as an abstract painter and still enjoys success in this field on the international art scene. He is widely known as a demonstrator of painting techniques at art societies and events like Art in Action and the Artist and Illustrators Fair. He has been a successful teacher for many years and has held positions of Head of Department in a Surry Comprehensive and at a Girls School in Bath. He has sat on examination panels and lectured at teacher training colleges. He is currently Director of Art at a school specialising in Dyslexia. He is a regular fdemonstrator or Caran D'Ache fine art products, Switzerland. Alongside painting, Gray has included Theatrical and musical roles as well as running a night club in Earls court. He is also widely acclaimed as a pyrotechnist.

Since he discovered the pursuit of caving, Gray has regularly put down on paper illustrative recollections of his underground experiences. These he does in a traditional academic style using oil pastel, black chalk, or mixed media. It is true to say that these 'cave' paintings are very different to his well known abstract works, but the same attention to detail, and truth to material still comes to the fore. A founder member of ISSA and its long serving chairman, Gray greatly values the friendship that he has found and is pleased to have the chance to put something back into a sport that has given him so much pleasure.

He has held over 30 successful one man shows and has work in private collections around the world.

Cave related exhibitions include regular exhibits at the BCRA Conference and the first ever ISSA exhibition at Bernie's Cofe:

The Torfaen Gallery in Pontypool,
Artists in the Underworld, Cheddar,
Homebarn, Clapham, Yorks
Painters of Darkness, Buxton Museum Art Gallery
The Salt Museum
St Davids Hall, Cardiff. Sponsorded by the Arts Councill of Wales
A brush with Darkness, Well Museum
Speleo Art Down Under, Jenolan Caves, Australia
Speleovision, international film festival, La Chapelle en Vercors

Many cavers world wide now own a Gray.

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