Landscape, for me, takes several forms. On the one hand, there is the pleasure of sitting in front of a view and catching the light, colour and power of what is before the eyes. Later, the work is finished by ordering the composition so that it holds together and ‘tuning’ the colour relationships so that the poetry of the place shows through.
At another level, there is the pleasure of submitting to the landscape, but using brief notes (sketches) and memory to fix it in my mind. Many of us experience landscape most intensely as we pass through it, often on foot. Shapes change as we move, colour next to colour produces huge variations as the days and seasons pass. Although the traditional view from a single vantage point can be satisfying, there is much more to be said. The result, for me, has been almost ‘stripes’ of colours and images, with an attempt to reflect some of the rhythm of seeing while moving.
A third level has to do with reflecting more generally on sky, air, elements, growing things, rhythms of wind in grass or shapes in hills or ploughed fields. The sense of a more elemental, spiritual dimension, which can be conveyed using landscape motifs in a semi-abstract way, is vital to my life as a painter.
At all levels, the landscape-based works are ‘realistic’ – reflecting what I see and know.
Self portrait 1984