Harold Sydney Mockford (1932 – 15 April 2023)[1] was an English artist based in Sussex who was closely associated with the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne.
Mockford mainly worked in oils on board, and considered a painting complete when it has reached 'that perfect moment of strangeness', a state achieved by his distinctive technique.
He began with flat plains of colour, leaving no area blank, then left the work face down on a blanket until he was ready to resume.
A solo exhibition at the Thackeray Gallery in London followed, but Mockford was reluctant to commit himself to painting full-time and the self-promotion required to rely on art for a living.
Mockford illustrated a book of poetry by Pam Hughes[3] and was chosen as a 'National Parks hero' for his paintings inspired by the South Downs.