HE has a name to remember and his art is making an impact too.

“Yes, the name is real,” says Andy Fullalove, the Lancashire-born artist who has progressed from group show five years ago to double bill last year to solo exhibition from today at According To McGee in Tower Street, York.

“I believe the name was originally French, Plein d’Amour, from the 13th century, and then became Fullalove in this country in the 1600-1700s. There’s still not many of us! You just don’t see the name anywhere, so people think it must be made up.”

Not only is he Fullalove, he is full of paintings too. “I’m constantly in the studio, seven days a week,” says Andy, whose prolific output from his Holmfirth studio is feeding a multitude of shows at present.

After two solo exhibitions in Edinburgh, he has an upcoming solo show early next year in Chelsea, New York, coming on the back of London outings in Islington, London City University and Tate Modern’s next-door neighbour, Bankside Gallery.

The Station gallery, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, awaits his work in July and August and he is now working on paintings, “very loosely based on landscapes, my core inspiration”, for a solo exhibition at the Helen Bray Studio at Holmfirth from September 23.

“I exhibit all over the country, and where you exhibit does influence what you paint as, in the case of this York show, you know you have all that space to fill and you don’t have to think about complementing the work of another artist or artists,” says Andy, who exhibited with Viv Wade at the McGee gallery last year.

His new series of colourscapes for the York gallery is entitled White Light Still And Moving. “There’ll be around 25 paintings; the majority of them are new, the rest are from the last six months,” he says.

They represent his response to T S Eliot’s series of poems, Four Quartets. “He talks about landscape and the regeneration of the land, and of the battle between landscape and humans trying to live within that landscape,” says Andy. “So that was the starting point, rather than me just taking the text and trying to interpret the lines.

“Regeneration of the land, with a sense of archaeology, is a theme that runs through my work. The notion that civilizations have risen up through adversity alongside the constant force of nature, is fascinating to me.”

In York, his paintings are accompanied by a soundscape of T S Eliot poetry spoken by Bakewell singer-songwriter Malc Staves to the accompaniment of music from Angelo Badalamenti’s film score for A Very Long Engagement.

“The piece lasts about four minutes and you can listen on headphones, so you’re ‘sectioned off’ and can only hear the music and poetry,” says Andy. “It’s all about the sound and vision – and I do listen to music all the time while painting.”

Andy’s paintings are, in his words, “not delicate”. “I use rags and cloths as well as brushes, and I throw whatever I need at it!” he says. “I never have a finished image in my head – I have lots of text, often with little drawings, in my sketchbooks – and there’s not one painting where I could say the image was pre-planned.

“I never work from a drawing or photograph that I copy. By the time I get to the final image, I’ve re-worked it so many times and I always try to surprise myself with the outcome – which is why you have to throw things at paintings and get angry. That way, they’re more organic.”

Andy’s painting confronts the shift between the figurative and abstract, prompting According To McGee co-owner Greg McGee to describe his artwork as simultaneously traditional and contemporary. “His palpable love of colour is authentic and aesthetic, and perhaps prioritises pleasure over concept,” he says. “There is, however, an unpredictable sense of mischief, a deliberate willingness to puzzle.”

Greg contends that Andy has reached new heights of colour-bejewelled canvases in White Light Still And Moving. “In paintings that are luxuriant yet concise, he has enriched his luminous vocabulary and enhanced his control over all things splendid, sumptuous and radiant,” he says. “The ultimate impression is one of optimism, for painting, for himself and the experiences that have helped shape him. Autobiographical concerns are far from obvious, but a self-avowed fan of classical music, Andy imparts a constant delight in showmanship, balance, inventiveness and a celebration of what light there is in being young and young at heart.”

Fullalove and full of life, in a nutshell.

Andy Fullalove’s White Light Still And Moving exhibition runs at According To McGee, Tower Street, York, from today until July 9. Tonight’s private view in the presence of the artist is from 6pm to 9pm.

For more information, see andyfullalove.com/artists-profile.html