NUMINOUS LANDSCAPE

Here we have two pictures I am currently working on. Continuing to experiment with various techniques of gloss and varnish, sometimes in layers, and in other places mixed with the paint. The above is ink and acrylic on paper, and below is acrylic on canvas. Both were started at the end of last year, so they span the turn of the calendar, and will be completed very soon. I have been looking again at the rich blues and winter tones in the work of Harald Sohlberg, who captures that sense of deep winter stillness so well. 

This next piece is at the other end of production, having recently been framed. It is now back from an exhibition in Cardiff, and available directly from me. Tap the image for further info and photo's. 

Inspirations

Eric Ravilious - Downland Man

Wiltshire Museum, Devizes - until 30th January

This week I made the voyage to deepest Wiltshire, seeking out the work of Eric Ravillious. This exhibition focuses on his work in the South Downs, and includes watercolours, a few wood engravings, and various other notebooks, publications, and letters. In some respects I appreciate these works; the vastness and light, the reality of modernity's advance upon the wild and ancient. The difficulty for me is that in having such a deep connection to various parts of the Downs myself, it can be hard to get beyond that, and maintain a receptivity to the experience of another.

The gentle slopes, and decisive chalk paths all resonate with me, as does that pale quality of light in certain weathers (particularly east of the river Adur). However, I find the palette limited, capturing only one rather washed-out tonality. I experience the Downs as quite rich in their colouring, ranging from the darkness of copse and woodland in contrast to the openness, and on a bright day a more crystalline quality permeates, the glinting of coastal light. 

There is also the depth, and magic I sense in the Downs, that for me is not present in these works, even when concerned in part with 'the ancient.' I found the more interesting images were the ones explicitly featuring human activity, such as 'Firing a 9.2 Gun' (below), where the gun blast has a delicate feathery plume to it, and the soldiers appear in a ghostly, grey, evoking a sense of 'lost too soon'. The land and sky seem in harmony with the humble human here, just passing through, like the weather, the gun set-apart.    

I have chosen to file this under 'inspiration' because it feels important to encounter things which are close to our interests and experience, yet remain 'other' enough to highlight the contrasts. This has led me to consider how I might move in a direction that approaches my connection to the South Downs more directly, whilst still being rooted in the imaginal.  

Thank you for reading