Artist Carter says he’s not alone in loving the BRM for the sound of its engine: a 16-cylinder, 1.5-liter Rolls Royce unit whose supercharger was closely related to the version fitted to the Merlin engine of the Spitfire and Mustang. That it also happened to be a beautiful machine was a bonus for him, as an artist passionate about classic cars and motorsport. It’s a passion he’s nurtured from boyhood, one he shared with his late father, who was also an artist. Carter’s studio is about 10 miles from the Donington Park Circuit and, on rare occasions, he says he’s been able to hear the V16’s inimitable wail being carried on the wind. This mixed-media piece depicts a 1950 BRM V16 P15 MK1 in the paddock at Goodwood. It was actually at the 2009 Revival meeting, but could just as easily have been September 27, 1952, when the car achieved a clean sweep with 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the Goodwood Trophy, driven by Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Reg Parnell and Ken Wharton—one of its all-too-few achievements.
The style and technique of Carter’s motoring art is the result of having divided his career between traditional illustration (his originally training) and digital media—paint and pixels—layering hand-drawn imagery, vignettes and snippets of memorabilia into a virtual collage, creating storied pieces that reveal a little more with every closer inspection. As well as framed originals, he produces archival-quality, hand-finished prints to order in signed, numbered editions of 50 or fewer. He also welcomes private and commercial commissions.
