The grid paintings dominated my artistic output for many years, symbolic of the systems and structures our governments put in place to control us, the colour breaking free of the grid’s constraints. Almost the last of these was the Brexit Daisy (now in a private collection) which symbolized the relationship of a sturdy independent Britain (the daisy) with the ‘cultured sophisticates’ of Europe (the pampered violets growing in a rich mulch of Europe’s poor and themselves constrained by the pot they grow in). I moved away from the grid structures in the paintings when we broke free of this lazy political alliance.
The Brexit Daisy 6×3 feet, acrylic on canvas. Now in a private collection
Now our chattering classes, unable to generate any creative ideas and having no vision (beyond their coke fuelled dreams), want to get back in their cosy relationship with Brussels. To hell with a free Britain, and as a result the grids are creeping back into my thinking/painting reflecting the sense of us being sacrificed for their Continental second homes and cheap baristas… The freedom with paint strokes/colour and washes I was exploring in my ‘Steps’ series seems to have come to a landing and a turning point, and emotionally being back in the EU means an end to traditional British freedoms, symbolised by the EU campaigns against free speech and their attack on technology.
The Last Steps The turn at the wall on the landing. acrylic paint on gesso primed cartridge paper , signed and dated A1 size
My most recent piece was a result of a drive along the Ouse from Newhaven, just a few miles from home. I have done a little research up this river, that used to carry goods by barge from the coastal ports into the hinterland, and the village of Piddinghoe used to house a brickworks so being more industrial than the pleasant village it is now – even the delightful Victorian school building is now a lovey looking home on the riverbank.
This piece starting to be a little more concerned with colour relationships rather than texture. Acrylic paint on gesso primed A1 cartridge paper
I took my sandwiches and sat on the riverbank watching the tide lift the water level almost up to my bench and gazed across at the alien yellow of the rapeseed fields and the pale brown of the harrowed ploughland on the Down opposite. Beautiful Sussex landscape, red farm roofs, abundant greens of trees and hedgerows with chestnuts in pink and white candle flower and the blackthorn white disappearing in favour of the elder flowers white, with gold accents of the gorse
The River Bank at Piddinghoe acrylic paint on gesso primed cartridge paper at A1
I had wandered once more along the beachfront in Seaford and been tempted again by the superb colour changes happening to the ‘pier’ as it continues its path of decay, but its currently off limits with repairs to the top (decay beneath the railings ignored) being carried out painfully slowly by the Environment Agency (three weeks at least behind schedule as I write). Streaks of cement washed the colours with grey dust and sawdust also distorted the images so I must leave it for a few weeks until the work on the timber top is completed, and wind, waves, tides and rain have restored the natural finishes. although I did capture the colour of concrete ad metal in the header to this piece..
An original photograph of the decaying ‘pier’ (unretouched)
Piddinghoe produced one work, but I realised as I wandered that using the landscape was a trap – unless it became very specific, i.e. representational in the way my photographs are – it would not echo what was happening to my locality in the way the rust and decay of the sea defences does – and I do after all, live on the coast. Whilst enjoying its beauty it wasn’t providing the baseline imagery to strike my creativity into fire again. It was too easy, and I suspect all that comes too easy.
Five years or so back I had fun letting the grass grow – an excellent option when you suffer spinal stenosis problems as I do. Now a couple of burly gardeners do all the hard work, and I stroll around in my Monet style gardeners hat focussed on pulling up bindweed (convolvulus) and killing greenfly. In doing so I’m falling in love with my garden all over again. The roses particularly this year, but the greenery altogether, seem to have benefitted from a run of frosts and are exuberant in the growth of their leaves and flower buds. Increased CO2 maybe, but beneficial and with the ice now thicker than ever at the poles for the second year running, I am confirmed in my belief that the climate apocalypse nutters have got things very wrong. Climate change yes – apocalypse no, just panicking fools as climate has always changed as any geological scientist will tell you (read Professor Ian Plimers book ‘Green Murder’).
‘Light of the World’ Now available from the Gallery as a limited edition giclée print
So as we are dragged back, betrayed, into imprisonment in the European Union, so the grids creep back as a tool, for me to reflect reality as I see it, and I am starting to think about using the garden again as my source but also revisiting the pier works in a different format. The big issue will be how to use what I have learnt with the free brushwork and experimental techniques I have developed over the last few years, to continue to explore colour and expression, whilst feeling more constrained by the symbolic grid.
Chimney Pot repurposed ecologically. Acrylic on canvas 6feet by 7feet six inches (now lost)
I am quite excited by the thought of once more exploring freedom within tighter constraints, using what I have learnt. I suspect, from what I learned with the ‘square’ series, such as the works about Bergen and other harbours, that I may find that the scale of the works will matter more. Whichever way it goes I can feel another five years of studio experimentation coming on, supplemented by what I am doing with the photography (and you can see that in my Facebook postings). I hope my health holds up…
Studio visits are welcome by the way, by appointment…
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