FISHING FOR ROACH

The previous painting was the departure I was looking for, this painting pushes me further in that direction. With a low boredom threshold the notion of being a ‘landscape painter’ was a straight jacket of my own making. I have realised that what I need is a great deal of uncertainty in my work, both in terms of subject and my treatment of it. The image for this painting was not premeditated. I photographed it from the tv screen, it was the opening scene of a random YouTube video. What struck me about it was the idea of someone getting a simple pleasure from fishing in isolation, in the middle of winter, sat on a muddy canal bank in the cold. The photo is so bad that areas of the figure are very uncertain, as are some areas of the scene, but there are some beautiful effects of trees and reflection in the cold murky green/grey water. Just to the left of the figure is, I think, a canal bridge, and there seems to be a ‘double rainbow’ effect of the bridge caused by distortion of the photo and other objects that are either trees or man made structures. There is an atmosphere of a magical realism, not quite Daliesque, thankfully.

Fishing for roach. Day 1

THE PRESSURE IS OFF

A warm studio, Schubert piano sonatas, a rainy October day, and a public declaration to do more painting meant an easy decision to do a consecutive days painting. I think I am back on track and properly focussed again on things that mean more to me than shovelling mud. Although there is a certain satisfaction in these DIY projects, one element they don’t have is the mystery of the painting journey. I could tell you exactly what my garden will look like in a years time. If you asked me the same question about my painting I really wouldn’t know, and wouldn’t want to know. This painting is now finished.

The secret garden

SHORT TERM PAIN

Six weeks of shovelling tons of gravel and soil around the garden has not been a pleasure but it means 3 of my big projects have been ticked off. Certain aspects of my life have been put on hold, including painting, but I am now winding down the year and trying to get a bit more of the unnecessary stuff back, ie painting, and other activities. This painting continues to improve, and I am hoping the next few months are going to give me a bit more time for it. I am moving away from pure landscape and this will become more apparent with each new painting.

The secret garden. Day 7

TOO EASILY DISTRACTED

I have an endless list of projects that are taking up most of my time. I could put painting at the top of this list and nobody would object. The truth is I view painting as a luxury activity to be indulged in when you have nothing more pressing to do. My strategy is to get through these projects now to give me more time in the future. Unfortunately this leads to a fall off in enthusiasm to paint, this evening was a short lived affair, some improvement but lacking enthusiasm.

The secret garden. Day 6

PLAYING IN THE MUD

If anyone was wondering why my productivity levels have somehow dropped even further, check out my ‘Landscaped Garden’ page. Two weeks of hard labour, including weekends, shovelling tons of soil and gravel. Importantly 2 big garden projects ticked off which means a low maintenance garden for the future. Now I am playing again with mud of a different variety, a bit more colour, hopefully, and no spade or wheelbarrow required. A late painting session ending close to midnight but I needed to break the cycle of manual labour for something a bit more refined. Good progress.

The secret garden. Day 5

CHANCE, ACCIDENT OR MIRACLE

I don’t think chance and accident are going to get me to where I want to be, I think I need a miracle. I am relying on intuition, chance and accident to move my painting forward but its a really predictable and slow process. I am creeping forward, I can see the progress but its all so painfully slow. Will a dogged determination and a Sunday painter mentality get me anywhere. I suppose I will find out in due course, lets hope I am satisfied with the outcome. This painting is starting to work in some areas. It is taking on that other worldly quality that I saw in this scene, but it has some way to go yet.

The secret garden. Day 4

AN AFTERNOON OF SCUMBLING

I hope Tom Keating would approve, though I am not up there with his beloved Titian and Constable, he can see I am trying. The idea was to spend several hours knocking this painting around in an attempt to unify the picture space and capture the textures of the foliage. There is still some way to go but I can see some areas of subtlety coming through that I like. The actual scene is quite magical and other worldly, this is what I am aiming for.

The secret garden. Day 3

A BURST OF ENTHUSIASM

Burst being the operative word as these things never last long with me, I prefer to plod along at a leisurely pace. An evening session, part enthusiasm and part trying to do a dozen different things at once. I am going in all directions at the moment and its eating into my painting time. I think these evening sessions will become more frequent. Decent start with this painting, the paving seems to be the trickiest aspect of all this.

The secret garden. Day 2

THE ILLUSTRATED FIGURE

The first figure to appear in a painting of mine for 35 years, this isn’t why I’ve kept it so small. This is a stately home with a walled garden that is quite a walk from the main house. It really could be a secret garden, hidden beyond some woods and a lake with only a small gated entrance. If it wasn’t sign posted you would never knew it existed. The viewpoint is from a terrace and the large patio area is a mixture of random paving that is sunk in some places.

The secret garden. Day 1

INTERESTING, EXPERIMENTAL

in other words, not entirely successful, but it has enough good painting in it to convince me that change is necessary and worthwhile. Going in a new direction where your not sure of the destination, as an ‘artist’, is surely a path that you should be on, always. I need something to keep me interested and curious. I see this as the only way to keep me returning to the easel. This painting is now finished, although the truth is I didn’t know how to finish it. On to the next one for more answers.

Sweet peas

IMAGINATION, INVENTION

and some luck, or as Bob Ross would say, some happy accidents. Moving away from a traditional landscape approach is I think an important step for me. I needed to re-ignite my curiosity by going down an unfamiliar path, to get lost for a while, if you like, in order to find out what I really want to paint about. This new approach is already in play and what I find interesting in other peoples work is the ‘unexpected’ both in terms of a subject and style of painting. It is in the creative approach to both that the interest lies. I already know the way forward and this will become apparent with each new painting.

Sweet peas. Day 5

LEISURE PAINTER

Struggling halfway through a short afternoon session the thought crossed my mind that life would be a lot easier if I had the disposition of a ‘leisure painter’. I would be satisfied just to get a few hours of painting in now and then. All thoughts of futility would be replaced by an unfocussed fuzzy warm contentment. My pitiful output would not cause me any concern. I would smile a lot more. As odd as it may sound I want to get to a point where I think all of this is worthwhile.

Sweet peas. Day 4

DAB DAB DAB

Suerat must have been a very patient and disciplined man. I imagine he kept his bedroom neat and tidy. I have been trying to find the forms within this scene with the dab, dab technique, more Monet than Seurat in reality. My temperament is not really suited to this style of painting and I have never tended to use this style in the past but I feel I need to push my technique and subject matter in a new direction. I want my paintings to become unfamiliar to me and I want to find a new way of making paintings. This picture is going well and my patience is expanding.

Sweet peas. Day 3

A FULL DAY

An all too rare event, but I’d be lying if I said all I want to do is paint all day every day. However, I am going to Wales tomorrow and I wanted to get the painting to a state where I could at least see its proper potential. This is almost a nocturn but I am ok with that. The sky was cloudy but naturally did not resemble this apocalyptic scene. Its been saved by the brighter tones in the foreground. I am going to have to step out of my comfort zone and adopt an Impressionistic touch, it will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Sweet peas. Day 2

NO NEED TO TRAVEL

I am starting to realize that my village can provide all the subject matter I could ever wish for. The only limiting factor is my imagination. I have been walking around here for the last 2 years thinking, that would make a good subject, and then getting in the car and driving 15 miles to photograph some favoured area of landscape. This just seems like a terrible waste. This scene comes from a local allotment yet there are many different types of subject around here including my garden. For some reason I have disregarded anything close thinking making an effort to travel distances is a sign of commitment. That is going to change. Good start with this painting. The sweet peas are a firework display but won’t appear until later in the painting.

Sweet peas. Day 1

NOBODY IS BOTHERED

by my absence. This may upset most people, but if your wanting to slip away to your studio when you have your mother and in-laws over from Mexico, it is a positive benefit. I managed to get in an afternoons painting and on returning to the house I was expecting some kind of negative reaction. I was welcomed back as if nothing had happened, there are upsides to being dull and uninteresting. This painting is finished. I think it is the first painting that has enabled me to break away from my familiar style of landscape painting. Although I will come back occasionally to a ‘traditional landscape’ I want to move further away from that format and I have something in mind.

The farmhouse

NATURE IS TERRIFYING

If you want to put order and control into nature then this will take over your life because nature is relentless. How can you balance an obsessive tendency towards order and neatness and at the same time contend with nature which doesn’t care about either? This is the subject of this painting. The landscape is overwhelming and if your going to make your living from it then you are dealing with something that is far more powerful than yourself. I think this is coming through in this painting. One of the details I find amusing is that the owners of the farmhouse, despite being surrounded by nature have planted rose bushes in their front garden. I have yet to paint these perfect blooms but this will become apparent.

The farmhouse. Day 5

MORE PAINTING TIME

Is the ultimate aim, what is in my way is a large garden that has been neglected for several years. Progress is being made to ensure the garden goes from an unkept jungle to a low maintenance English Gentlemans Retreat. This means lots of hard landscaping and acres of plastic sheeting topped with gravel. This painting feels like a significant shift forward. I don’t really know what I am aiming at but this will become more clear once I can get some consistent painting time. In-laws from Mexico arrive tomorrow for 3 weeks so I will have to grab time where I can.

The farmhouse. Day 4

DISTRACTIONS & EXCUSES

Some things are necessary, like fixing the guttering on your house (now finished), other things like watching endless YouTube videos aren’t. The danger with needing to do necessary things is that it takes me away from my painting and allows me too much time to think, and this is never a good thing. I find my thoughts tend to become more negative and my enthusiasm evaporates. As soon as I start painting again the reverse happens, every time. This is an endless battle and lessons are never learned. Painting is going well and is deserving of more attention.

The farmhouse. Day 3

BROWN AND GREEN

Is that a problem? It seems to me that as a landscape painter I find myself mixing quantities of these colours at the beginning of each new painting almost as if there is no alternative. Yet I am a little disappointed by my conventional approach to colour choice. I don’t know if these doubts are predicters of change, I suspect that they are though I feel it will be a subtle shift. I am finding with the more recent paintings they need to be worked and pushed around a lot before they reveal their real potential.

The farmhouse. Day 2