It's been such a sunny week that I've not been in the studio at all, but I've thinking a lot about how I'm going to approach my next commission, and now I'm back in the studio keen to get on with it. The size has been agreed at 42"x56" and I've already made a stretcher so as to give myself some idea of the size, possibilities and challenges of the project. I imagine the painting will take about 6 months to make, as it's a challenging piece with a great deal of complexity and subtlety involved.
My landscape paintings are all very ambitious in terms of the complexities and subtleties I want to achieve, and they require quite a different approach than my Cafe Royal paintings. The Cafe Royal is set in an 'urban' environment (in Bridport), and are concerned with architecture, surface, modernity and depicting an environment in which most things are designed and built by man, making very specific and clearly defined spaces. What I found most interesting about painting the Cafe was the variety of light effects at work, from both inside and outside the building, as well as the reflections in the wet road and the movement of the cars across them.
While the man-made landscape can appear extremely complex, nature is even more so, containing structures and patterns that are timeless and profound, spanning centuries, even millennia of history, with incredible complexities of light, the rhythms of natural forms, and the chaotic growth and interactions of the organic environment.I would therefore almost describe my urban paintings as 'warm-up' pieces for my landscapes, where I could gain confidence in learning to achieve the sensation of light and to balance several different dynamics within the composition.
In my landscapes I want to do justice to nature, and every one of my recent series of landscape paintings has helped me to develop my confidence in tackling ever-more ambitious subjects, and to pursue ever greater subtleties of light, space, atmosphere and mood.
I want to create highly ambitious paintings that can stand alongside the great artists I admire, and this requires a combination of experience and adventure - the ability to create works that incorporate complex traditional techniques alongside an innovative contemporary edge. I also try to retain a sense of personal challenge and surprise in my work, attempting things that are new to me and that keep me on my toes, and which continue to push the boundaries of painting.
This next "Lewesdon Tree" project is based on a subject and source material that both challenges and inspires me. Since working on the "Lewesdon View" painting last year, I've continued to visit and document Lewesdon Hill, throughout the seasons, in order to try to capture moments that evoke the feelings I want to express. As I followed the landscape through winter and into spring I noted where and when the sun would set, in order to form an understanding of the dynamics of the gradually changing light and ever-growing foliage.I'm really looking forward to making the "Lewesdon Tree" painting, as it will be the culmination of all this preparation, drawing from my experience of those 'idyllic' evenings when the light and foliage and view across the Marshwood Vale came together in perfect harmony.
