Painting
A selection of recent work:
The series There all the time is inspired a strange pink light that momentarily lit up the wooded track I often use on early morning walks. The pinkish glow of the unrisen sun reflected off a cloud bank transformed a familiar spot into something quite unfamiliar.
Winter Colour paintings reflect the mood of midwinter.
Early morning walks start in darkness; the sky lights slowly from behind rounded hills, the inky blue of night gradually replaced by pale watery greens, yellows and oranges. The wooded lanes and tracks are open, with boughs and scant foliage forming silhouettes against the sky. Limited light forces a cool palette of muted colours.
From series: Winter colour. 2022-3. Oil on paper each 41x30 cm
From series: Light from Darkness: Advent. 2022 Oil on paper. each 41x30 cm
From Series: Colour of Bruising. Oil on paper/ board. 41x30cm
My regular walks through local woodland are the principal source for this work. On these trips I sketch, take notes and photographs. I also occasionally paint outdoors. I work on these accumulated memories and insights in my studio, building up paintings from rough outlines and drawings, revising as each painting progresses, often working on several pieces in parallel.
These woodland studies- views along tracks and through trees are a continuing source of inspiration. There are endless opportunities and variation on the shapes, colours and tones they present. These latest have taken on the colours of bruising and have also inherited some of that meaning.
Woodland studies
Watergate woodland- studies (2022). Oil on paper 41x30cm
These are a small selection of recent studies, with some experiment in each- varying the ground, primary colour choices, the degree of underpainting or overdrawing.