Ben Shalom is a self-taught artist.  He began painting and sculpting from a very early age, inspired by the colours and landscape of the Mediterranean.  He was born on the Carmel mountain in Israel and still remembers the magical views of the sea from his window.

Then as a young adult he moved to Italy to study medicine at Bologna University.  However, he loved Tuscany so much that he decided to base himself in Florence during his student years and it was there that he met his English wife.

His career changed again after he came to England and he worked as a lecturer for over 10 years.  But the nagging feeling returned and he felt the need to dedicate himself to art once again, recognising it was indeed his real passion.

Ben settled on oil painting as his chosen medium.  His work is varied:  semi-abstract, landscapes, seascapes and figurative.  But what all his work has in common is the use of vibrant colours and textures (Impasto).  His work is clearly inspired by his Mediterranean roots and the many years spent in Italy.