This rather long winded working title has evolved in response to the development of my work during the first half of 2022 as I continue to refine and in doing so redefine my response to landscape through the medium of paint.
Colour and Application
The paintings that I made in the autumn had begun to have colour references in their titles which brought me around to the idea of working with a limited number of hues of one colour. Colour has such an emotional impact on the viewer and can suggest so much about a subject.
Working with the limitation of one colour also focussed me more acutely on the subtleties of the application process. I'd been enjoying the soak staining effect of working onto unprimed canvas for a while and was able to explore further more of the visual impact of this process through a limited colour palette.
Layering and Space
Stripping right back to the minimal application of the colour paintings enabled me to consider what processes had the most impact and were most relevant in terms of what I wanted to say about landscape. The thinly layered washes of paint gave a sense of depth to the surface creating space for the viewer to move through as if moving through a landscape, walking through undergrowth or exploring a hedgerow. Layering is also suggestive of time passing, seasons changing and new growth emerging.
Photo Collages
The photo collages have evolved as a key reference from which to develop my paintings. As I take photographs directly from the landscape of the layered structure all around me. I then select a couple of images to tear up and reconstruct in to a single image the idea being representative of physically being in a place and experiencing it from different angles and view points. Painting back over the top of the photographic images and adding thin layers brings life and energy to the surface and gives me some idea as to how to further translate them into paintings in terms of composition, colour and paint application.
Renewal
I have been drawing parallels between the natural versus creative cycle, in nature we clear away the dead wood in order for new fresh growth to form. The process of stripping my practice back to its bare essence albeit briefly has enabled me to see much more clearly how to take it forward again in ways that are relevant both materially and to further the development of my ideas. "Renewal" is then an appropriate title for the new work that is emerging from this process and the broken and torn fragments of the photo collages.
