Edgescape : wall

Edgescape : Wall was included the Land & Light exhibition at the Wingfield Arts Centre in early 2004 (along with two more of my Edgescape paintings, Stratum and Orizon) - then in early 2006 this painting was selected for the Byard Art Open at Byard Art , Cambridge..edgescape: wall, mixed media on panel, 90cm x 90cm unframed.what is the inspiration for this painting?mostly the blackened walls of the city, the patina of a bygone age, coal-fired industry, the horizontal bands evoking tracks of activity... this is one of a series of eight panels completed between 2004-2007, evolving from an investigation into the history of eroded surfaces and patinas, which I also document as photographs... this has enabled a critical engagement with the perceived materiality of recreated surfaces, questioning their authenticity as material object or representational image.. the textural markings are not all directly applied, but a myriad of negative traces, created by a process of sgrafitto, layering glazes and removal - a sort of process of painting in reverse... what remains beneath... these close-up details of the painting edgescape:wall show the influence of printmaking methods in my paintings...wall, detail.wall, detailwall, detailview more textural abstract landscape paintings in the egescapes series...

Some thoughts on abstraction

It's the holidays at last! - time to think more about art, and where to go or what to do next... I have been doing so little art lately - working full time over these last few weeks has sapped my creative energy. All week and then some weekend overtime for the extra money - but now it is nearly Christmas.I have been thinking about abstraction (in art) and concluded that there are three distinct modes.. (these are my thoughts whilst driving to and from work).1. to translate from reality, in patterns, shapes, forms and colours (on losing the reality)2. to assemble or create patterns, shapes, forms and colours (on denying a reality)3. to work intuitively with materials to a point where they make forms, shapes and colours (on finding your own reality)the first way is quite straightforward...the second way is quite formal...the third way is quite brilliant, or a complete mess...I need to avoid making a mess of things.

edgescape : klinken

this painting is currently being exhibited along with some other works in the exhibition entitled vivid at the Reunion Gallery..edgescape:klinken, mixed media on panel, 95cm x 95cm framed.29 August 2006edgescape:klinken was informed by the experience of digging an area of ground - striations of compost, discarded ash, coal and clinker, fragments of carpet, unidentified detritus... I also unearthed a wealth of pseudo-archaeological matter including broken toys, metal lighters, pottery and old tins, glass bottles, unworthy of a museum but the history contained within created a humble collection of artefacts...i titled this painting klinken after mixing some clinker in the paint to achieve a more random texture than could be achieved with sand or chalk...klinken, detail.this second image shows some of the thin layers of paint... at the time i felt the colours were too sombre, but it has an earthy, autumnal quality, of mist, compost, wood fires and smoke, the centre is overlaid with a soft smokey haze, but on photographing the whole painting my camera's settings gave it more contrast and prominence... this close-up detail serves to show the subtle merging of layers and is more truthful in colour...here are some photographs i took of the painting at different stages; the dates relate to the day picture was taken...28 july 200519 october 200516 december 200512 march 200609 june 2006view more abstract landscape paintings in this series...