Lake District

EXHIBITION “DRAWN TO WATER” 2020

“In this exhibition I explore the Lake District in its many watery instances – its ghylls and rivers, torrential falls and hanging clouds, the bristle of a breeze on the surface of a tarn.
The vision I have explored through these paintings investigates that timeless, human fascination with water in natural settings and the impulse towards contemplation in its presence. At the same time I am offering the viewer a unique, personal insight into the choices that I make in perspective – looking upwards at a rushing torrent, submerged reeds at arm’s length, a shore glimpsed through trees at eye level, beyond the visible horizon – as well as in materials and technique – scratching and reworking of paint and wax enables me to express and reformulate my lived experience of these places. I enjoy paying careful attention to colour, texture and light, thus many of my paintings celebrate the exquisite detail discovered in nature.

The relationship between water and geology, water and plant life, water and sky, is the starting-point of this body of work, and I have attempted to articulate in as ambivalent and unsentimental approach as possible. My interpretation of these watery places; the fear of the cold depths when swimming, the fast-changing light as rain showers move across a valley, the thrill of kayaking, the simple delight of working in plein air, and reliving experiences back in the studio, all of these can be intuited. In what could be considered an overcrowded market, I hope my work offers a sober, alternative vision of the Lakes, sensitive to the value of water in all its manifestations and to the consequences of its absence; with an eye on climate change and the incursion of people / hand of humankind on this special place.”