Beneath & Beyond: The Hidden Landscape
I love the landscape of the British Isles: the rocks we scramble over, the different earths and soils we trudge along, or the intriguing topography we see whilst out driving. How did the solid beneath our feet get there? What lies buried there? How has human kind used this magnificent resourse? What is viewed further along the pathway, towards horizons? Questions begging to be explored. The history, and mystery, of ‘beneath’ and ‘beyond’ continues to feed my curiosity with intriguing possibilities for my paintings.
Oil paints mixed with cold wax is the perfect medium for exploring this love of landscape – its geography and history. Layers of paint can be built up and then dug into, scraped and excavated back, revealing the history beneath. Veils of paint can also be layered then softly dissolved away to reveal a landscape seen through different elements and atmospheres, creating stories or evoking a sense of mystery and legend, and times past.