NUMINOUS LANDSCAPE

Before I moved to Newport in March 2020, I was contacted by someone who has long held an interest in my work, asking if they could commission me to make something for them when I arrived in Wales. This was my first experience of commissioned work, and one of the rare occasions when I have sought to make something for a very specific location. This proved to be a fascinating experience. It was a real honour to share an encounter with places that are of great significance to this person, yet were at the time completely unfamiliar to me, and to then be trusted to simply do what I do, with no preconceived ideas about the end results. 

I am pleased with the finished pieces, and especially delighted with the excellent framing by Katherine Richards Framing, Cardiff. At this point I have decided not to name the locations, as I feel that these images will speak in their own way, and perhaps that also retains something important about a shared experience.

The following words are written by the person who commissioned the work, and this week collected them from the studio, for the journey to their new home in the far west of Wales.

Above and below: From The Water of Eternity

Acrylic on wood panel

"I suggested we went together on a series of three walks that I regularly went on locally. Places that through my two decades in Newport, had supported and nourished my family and myself. I had built a relationship with the land. Had an ongoing conversation with place. And felt that knowing Andrew’s work as I did, he would “get it”. This numinous landscape and what lay beneath the visual beauty of the nature of the places."

Below: Beyond The Devil's Veil

Acrylic and oak gall ink on paper

"Andrew arrived and the world shut down. What was to be (I thought) a relativity quick process, due to covid and lockdowns, ended up spanning 2 years. This meant the flow of the walks spanned seasons. The creation of the art spanned years. And at no point was there anything that could be done by either of us to speed up the process.

It seems the work had its own ideas about the pace of the commission, and we could do nothing but give in to the sense that nothing was to be rushed, nothing was in our control."

Below: Through A Timeless Silence

Acrylic and ink on paper

"To finally have the artwork on my wall is incredible. Andrew has so captured the magic and wonder of each place, and the flow of energies and our conversations as we walked, in a way as to quite take my breath away.

These pieces are deeply personal to me, and yet they are not mine at all. But rather a conversation that place had with me, with Andrew, that we had with each other and more. They are immense. I hope, when people come to visit, they take the chance to sit a while with them. And see what arises. Their own conversations will no doubt happen. As it should."

Inspirations

Andrew MacKenzie - Dusk

&Gallery, Edinburgh - until 5th March

Working from his studio in Stow, nestled in the Scottish Borders around 25 miles or so from Edinburgh, Andrew MacKenzie creates images which I find both deeply moving, and technically stunning. I have seen many of his works in person, and could happily have them on my own walls. I recommend spending some time with the gallery website, where you can also view some previous work. A very genial man as well, keen to support the development of other artists, and a former president of Visual Arts Scotland. 

"All my work starts with an experience of a place encountered, often during a walk or a field trip to a specific place. Walking is a key part of generating ideas, and I will explore and record through notes, small drawings and photography. I often get interested in a place because it resonates with something I’ve seen in art history or film, or it causes me to make associations with something I’m reading or thinking about already – an exchange happens." - From &Gallery website.

I could not resist sharing this image from the Borders Art Fair, Kelso. What a privilege it was for my own work to appear shoulder to shoulder with A. MacKenzie.This was in March 2020, currently the most recent occasion of my work featuring in a real life exhibition in Scotland. 

Thank you for reading