2023
The theme running through my work has always been the concept of journeys and journeying, through time or place. Every now and then I become captivated with something specific to that experience. These subjects have included the images of Buddha in Thailand and India, the Apsaras of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Asian stone carvings, autumnal leaves in Massachusetts, Upstate New York and the UK, as well as mountainscapes inspired by the Himalayas, the Andes, the Rockies and the Dolomites. I have also made series’ of prints and paintings based on the iconic breakwaters of the south of England’s coast lines
The images are often obsessively reproduced in ways that explore memories of that experience, for example capturing a moment in time through varying colour, changing skies or textures specific to that place or time. I use a camera to record these elements and scenes in nature, like a sketchbook. The resulting images are then brought into the studio to create paintings and prints where layers of colour interact with collaged papers, underlying texture and photographic imagery. These images have been embedded within the surface of the canvas or the paper and aim to draw the viewer in to discover what is suggested and hidden beneath the surface.
More recently I have been exploring the use of found natural objects, collected from these places visited, to create images through cyanotype, printmaking and mixed media works.
During the initial lockdown in March 2020 I had a fortnightly flower delivery. Living in such an urban environment and unable to get my usual fix of the natural world due to travel restrictions, these flowers brought a small part of nature back into my life. As the flowers wilted and the petals started to fall, they were given another lease of life through their use in my prints. I cyanotyped them and I printed directly from the plants. I was trying to rescue what was left of their precious existence, reflecting the experiences of so many during the pandemic. The following series of monoprints continue with the process of capturing the cycle of the dying plants and immortalising them on paper. They are delicate, ethereal and dream like. They are trying hold onto the fragile life that is left.
As lockdowns repeated themselves the development of the work reflected the shrinking of our lives. The prints are on a much more domestic scale than previously. As the seasons went on and the restrictions continued, inspiration was drawn from the small amounts of freedom allowed, daily walks. Images and natural objects were collected and brought back into the studio to be painted or used to create prints from, through the processes of cyanotype and monoprint or oil pastel drawings.
This process of collecting natural objects has remained integral to the post lockdown work. The recycling of nature and the harnessing of the sunlight to process the cyanotypes remains an important part of the integrity of the work.
The work does not dictate to the viewer, it suggests, aiming to trigger memories, imagination and contemplation. Every piece of work and element is a journey taken – they are vehicles of transcendence, a place or situation revisited, with the added element of memory. Different aspects of the journeys become apparent in each set of images. Various paths are followed and often retraced as new insights are gained on every return echoing the changes in the natural world over time, be it a natural development or the effects of our human footprints. The essence of the work remains throughout the various bodies of artwork, that is the experience of a journey of some sort, a physical and visual exploration, whether it is for the first time or a repeated experience.
The theme running through my work has always been the concept of journeys and journeying, through time or place. Every now and then I become captivated with something specific to that experience. These subjects have included the images of Buddha in Thailand and India, the Apsaras of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Asian stone carvings, autumnal leaves in Massachusetts, Upstate New York and the UK, as well as mountainscapes inspired by the Himalayas, the Andes, the Rockies and the Dolomites. I have also made series’ of prints and paintings based on the iconic breakwaters of the south of England’s coast lines and more recently, in my ‘shoreline treasures’ series of prints, what is washed up on the beaches of the UK.
The images are often obsessively reproduced in ways that explore memories of that experience, for example capturing a moment in time through varying colour, changing skies or textures specific to that place or time. I use a camera to record these elements and scenes in nature, like a sketchbook. The resulting images are then brought into the studio to create paintings and prints where layers of colour interact with collaged papers, underlying texture and photographic imagery. These images have been embedded within the surface of the canvas or the paper and aim to draw the viewer in to discover what is suggested and hidden beneath the surface.
More recently I have been exploring the use of found natural objects, collected from these places visited, to create prints through cyanotype and relief printing as well and monoprint. My subject matter is the shoreline and what can be found washed up. I have been concerned with the amount of rubbish that ends up in our waters and how this affects the natural world. This is an area which I am currently exploring and developing.
The imagery of mountain scenery is a theme that has recurred over the years, from the foothills of the Himalayas, the high peaks of the Andes to the more recently visited snow-capped Dolomites. The majestic peaks are often shrouded in cloud making it hard to tell were the mountain ends and the skies begin, the land is broken by swathes of cloud sweeping across the land giving the impression of islands in the sky.
In the recent prints, layers are built up with a selection of lithography, digital prints, collagraph, monoprint, relief print and chine colle to create a rich surface that draws the viewer in to the subtlety of the layered inks.
The work does not dictate to the viewer, it suggests, aiming to trigger memories, imagination and contemplation. Every piece of work and element is a journey taken – they are vehicles of transcendence, a place or situation revisited, with the added element of memory. Different aspects of the journeys become apparent in each set of images. Various paths are followed and often retraced as new insights are gained on every return echoing the changes in the natural world over time, be it a natural development or the effects of our human footprints. The essence of the work remains throughout the various bodies of artwork, that is the experience of a journey of some sort, a physical and visual exploration, whether it is for the first time or a repeated experience.