Forgive me, it's been unforgiveably long since I posted anything here. I should give full account in explanation but beyond the travails we all currently suffer nothing much comes to mind as excuse. Life is good here between the sea and NYM National Park, I'm enjoying myself both in and out of the studio. After five years of absorbing the grandeur it is now habitual to act on this inspiration of which there is much more than I can process.
With this in mind I have set new rules for my latest pieces so that I can make more of them; use of small brushes is disallowed on the grounds that they will demand a slavish rendering of the subject, it is better to marshall the effects of paint and the calligraphy of the broad-brush. Paint and landscape share a sort of messiness and many painters are expert at finding this intersection, a beautiful effortlessness. The second rule is that the painting should be finished in a single day - as far as possible - within the limits of fatigue - and where necessary some further embellishment is permitted but not beyond the point where inspiration is drained.
The twenty or so paintings I made over summer were examples of this refreshed approach, a reaction to previous practise when I would spend six months on a single piece, obsessed, monk-like, bent to the easel. That's what it takes. The painting is still for sale. Now I'm presenting the first of these small acrylic-on-board pieces for auction on ebay. Some are from my 'Uncommon Land' series inspired by the sumptuous estate lands around Goathland. The more recent paintings are of my local Upgang beach between Sandsend and Whitby and seek to capture the jewel-like qualities of the humble tide-swept gravel.
These auctions run until October 9th and you can link to them here