I'm thrilled with the painting! Thank you for all your care and skill in creating it and the thoughtful touches you've included. It's such a vibrant, positive and happy painting. The view over Swanage Bay is very special to me and I know that I'll treasure this painting for the rest of my life.

I love Stephen Bishop’s work - his creations speak to my soul & lift my spirit with a smile, like a best friend would. This piece is “Beneath the Waves’ and is so very me. As a relatively new open water swimmer in Dorset, I knew when I saw it that it was me being taken to a blessed, happy place …along the waves… to so much peace in a noisy world. Art is so very important in our lives, always…and even more so in these unstable, unknown times. I can never express enough gratitude for this magnificent painting and I will always treasure it. Thank you Stephen - very much.

I have five amazing oil paintings by Stephen Bishop which hang in my Dorset home. Each one is very different to look at but they all have a great variety of colour and texture and create a depth of feeling and story. They bring me joy!

We first saw Stephen's work at an Open Studio event in Purbeck. Since then, we have kept in touch and have been to a number of Exhibitions and Open Studios. It is always a pleasure to view Stephen's work; his use of colour and technique make his paintings uplifting, inspiring and exciting. His invocation of place (at first, Spain and now our beloved Purbeck) gives his work special meaning for us. The paintings we have bought are part of our landscape. If only we had more wall space! Thank you, Stephen. We look forward to seeing more.

My husband and I have been collecting Stephen’s work for years and would collect more if space allowed. We love how Stephen evokes time, place and feeling in each work, and of the location or situation that inspired him. Whatever the image, the sincerity behind the work shines through - and grants you a fresh vision each time you look - which we never tire of doing!

Stephen, We love that painting and it has brought us great happiness over the years. The light on the water is quite beautiful, making the sea dance and sway. The build up of oil on canvas gives weight and substance and a visceral physicality to the work. We absolutely love it and have it on a wall in our Florida home where we spend several months of the year. We are really pleased to be able to buy a new painting from you. Helen from Maidenhead on 9 Dec 2020

Hi Stephen,  Well I got home, eventually managed to remove the bubble wrap, the family were gathered, and the consensus is..  ... We love it! Such a fantastic painting, and I'm so pleased that, having followed your work with interest for many years, I am finally in possession of one of your paintings.  It will give joy for years to come, and perhaps some day it'll be joined by another.  In the meantime, thanks so much, and all the best. 

“I have longed to purchase one of Stephen Bishop’s paintings for some time. A good friend is a big fan and I used to covet her beautiful coastal paintings. When Stephen posted an image of his Heath painting on line, I knew it was for me! I love that all his paintings are of local beauty spots. The vibrant colours and textures truly bring the scene to life in my home.”

We commissioned Stephen to paint us a large 1.3 x 1m canvas - “ Mupe Bay”, near Lulworth Cove. It is a really special place to us and the painting does it full justice. Stephen’s paint to the edge of the canvas style with lashings of oils complements our contemporary light and airy house magnificently. Within a year we followed “ Mupe Bay” with the similarly sized “Take me there”, the colours and vibrancy of this work are simply food for the soul. It looks fantastic in daylight and at night we have angled a spotlight to highlight the contours and depth of the paint. Fabulous!

I have just been on the ferry from Sandbanks and there was a poster with your picture of the red boat . I was completely transfixed and couldn't look away ! I've since been googling all references to you and think I have fallen truly madly deeply in love with your work !

Stephen Bishop’s new paintings combine his fascination with the illusory nature of light and water with a new interest in the experience of place through the veil 
of recollection. Against the backdrop of the disorder of contemporary life Bishop’s new paintings 
glow like coloured beacons of optimism.

Stephen is part of a rising generation of artists living and working in Dorset. He finds particular inspiration in the colour and light of Purbeck. His work is bought by an increasing number of discerning collectors drawn by the depth of expression, fluency and energy it possesses. We feel sure his career will go far. Stephen works in the 'en plein air' tradition of painting of Monet and Van Gogh. His work has a sense of immediacy and life stemming from the directness of his contact with his subject matter. He has an astonishing ability to convey his reactions and feelings through the creation of images which grow in interest as they become familiar.

Hello Stephen I really am a big fan of your work and I think you are doing some of the most original, and artistically important, work in and of Dorset at the moment.

I had been looking forward to Dorset artist Stephen Bishop’s new exhibition with such verve that I kept getting the dates wrong. It opened at last on Saturday, just in time to get a quick review in this month’s column. In a departure from the semi-abstract Jurassic coastal landscapes that have been prominent in his recent work, Openings has a Spanish theme, drawing on life in and around Jerez, where Stephen spends part of each year. The majority of the work is figurative, depicting the narrow streets, buildings, forms and features typical of the region: the layer-upon-layer of paint over crumbling walls; a line of colourful washing; the keyhole curves of a church door. But the use of vibrant colours and bold brush strokes will be entirely familiar to appreciators of Stephen’s work. With these he evokes the deadpan heat of the afternoon, the close warmth of the evening, and the relief of cool interiors. But the title painting ‘Openings – Jerez’ was for me the centrepiece of the exhibition: a wonderful abstract full of deep reds and flashes of colour, invoking (for me) the gentle swaying of a sweltering afternoon, as you lie on your back in the cold sea, closing your eyes against the blinding sun.

Friday, September 08, 2006. Impasto Gusto I was bowled over by an exhibition at the Quarr Gallery in Swanage. The painter was Stephen Bishop and the exhibition was called " Purbeck Summer". This was something different. These paintings were, indeed, of the iconic views but they were painted with such energy and commitment that you couldn't but be rocked backwards by the effect. The paint was thick and layered from bright greens and blues and purples. The horizons slanted and swayed. It looked as though the artist was attacking the Purbeck landscape. A whole room full of these works and you really got something from the place that is usually missed by the chocolate box painters. You got a sense of the underlying force of nature, the oppressive summer heat of the heath, the cutting wind, the angry waves. The picture for me was of a single heathland tree, angled by the wind standing in a sea of gorse and heather with a brilliant blue streak of hills in the distant background. If anyone wanted an image of Hardy's Egdon Heath. This was it. Astonishingly, Stephen Bishop is a warm, friendly person; happy to talk about his work. Not precious at all. And, incredibly, the paintings are made en plein air. He sets up his easel and he gets the paint and sand and anything else adjacent onto the canvas until he's finished. Congratulations Stephen Bishop and the Quarr gallery for letting us see this fantastic display.

1984 Reference upon leaving Art College to pursue a career as a Fine Artist. I believe that one day Stephen will find a place in Society which he has not, but I have often dreamt he will find.

I was so looking forward to having the painting delivered. When I saw it, I was absolutely thrilled that words cannot express my joy! The painting looks magnificent in my living room. It is a rare privilege to display such a beautiful painting in my house. I will treasure it always. It will be my pride and joy and my flamenco inspiration!

Hi Stephen, We are so pleased with the picture and have had so many compliments from friends about it. I have attached a couple of pictures so you can see it in situ. Thanks very much for the service - the delivery chap was lovely and it very much arrived in tip top condition.