About

Malcolm Doney grew up under the flight path for Heathrow Airport. He studied Fine Art at St Martin’s School of Art (now Central Saint Martin’s UAL) before pursuing a writing career in journalism, advertising and broadcasting. 

His art practice took a back seat for some years, but it never left him alone. Moving to coastal Suffolk from London and creating a studio re-awakened his desire to make and paint.

In the course of his writing career, he has produced the words for factual TV, radio, magazines and newspapers. He has written ten books, including, with his wife Meryl, Who Made Me?, a sex guide for seven year olds. They road-tested the book and now have two (grown-up) children. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2’s Pause for Thought, and Radio 4’s Something Understood.

In his mid-fifties, he was ordained as a priest in the Church of England, and volunteers his services at his local parish church. He describes himself as an “agnostic Christian”, who is drawn more to mystery, music and poetry than dogma. 

The Work

Malcolm Doney’s work is inspired by the pared-down vison of ‘folk’ or ‘naïve’ art, and the liberties it takes with perspective, proportion and colour. He likes to explore the abstract qualities in simple, familiar objects in the spirit of artists like Pierre Bonnard and William Scott. It is important for him that his practice is earthed, grounded, and that any spiritual qualities that may emerge (in his work) are essentially a by-product, not an intention. 

He says “I’ve always loved everyday things: a mug of tea and a bacon sarnie; a soft jumper that’s fraying at the sleeves; walking the dog down a familiar path. Domestic, functional things, like kitchen implements or garden sheds – especially when their edges have been eroded by use or age – have a kind of vernacular beauty. I look for and discover what the metaphysical poet George Herbert called ‘Heaven in ordinary’.”