The Second Stage

Bone-Waller came to London 31 years ago to attend LAMDA drama school. What came next was a decade as an actor, followed by 12 years as a clown, alongside periods of writing and making music. He stumbled upon painting in 2019. He is, however, no stranger to a pot of paint and brush in hand: for more than 20 years, he has run his own painting and decorating business.

Mainly self-taught, Bone-Waller attended Turps Banana’s correspondence course from 2020 to 2022. His preferred medium is oil on canvas.

In 2025, he made various attempts to broaden his practice beyond his people-dominated work. Participating in a location-inspired exhibition at Bentwaters in Suffolk, Bone-Waller branched out into landscape and concept-based work.

Following this project, in September 2025 Bone-Waller attended the Fez Art Residency in Morocco for a week. Staying in the heart of the Medina, within a labyrinth of narrow streets, he explored, took photographs, made sketches and absorbed the sights, smells and sounds of the city. He is now embarking on a series of paintings inspired by his visit

Bone-Waller likes to paint people. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his background in drama, he has always been drawn to characters and stories, tales and myths. His work explores the dynamics between people as well as the inner questions of the individual. He is particularly interested in the moment within a story—the snapshot in which something has just happened, is about to happen, or remains intriguingly ambiguous. Each painting might be taken as a scene from a contemporary folk tale.