Retrospective Book
I crowdfunded this book in 2014 and it represents my artistic journey to that point.
Front Cover, Western Isles
Cover. The Western Isles 700 x 900mm £10,000
Fisherman, Thailand
1 Fisherman Ping River Thailand 2003 Emulsion on black sugar paper. 820 x 560mm 650mm £1,450 Painted using my fingers, I used a grey and white paint on black paper creating a tri tone image. Rather than move from light to dark as I would with a watercolour, I’m moving from dark to light, watercolour in reverse.
Rain Forest New Zealand
SOLD Rain Forest West coast South Island New Zealand. 2002 Emulsion on paper 820 x 560mm £5,750 Here I was working in a style reminiscent of pointillism most associated with the French impressionists. The New Zealand landscape was similar in diversity as Great Britain’s. Every valley a slight change. The temperate rainforest of New Zealand’s west coast like those I painted in North America are a favourite subject. They seem to rain with moisture and light in equal measure.
The Band Mexico
The Band San Cristóbal de las Cases 2002. Emulsion on paper 880 x 620mm £5,750. At 7,000 feet this large Mexican town had a beautiful quality of light. The range of subject matter was never ending. The Mexicans needed no excuse for a festival, a fire work and music. This particular style I’ve never been able to repeat, peculiar to it’s time and place. It was of it’s time, drops of light and shade.
Jugs
Jugs Emulsion on paper 880 x 620mm 2002 £2,250 This work originated from practicing and experimenting with a lot of technical drawing, ellipses amongst other aspects. Jugs have been depicted in traditional still life paintings throughout the centuries and have infinite variety. I firstly drew and then painted a whole series. This particular due seem to develop an amphropermorphic twist.
The Wonderer
The wonderer. Emulsion on paper 880 x 620 mm 2002 £2,450 Another work in a more impressionist style. Maybe this is was to do with all that travelling, an artist observing and being observed. I’d like to explore some more narrative work like this in the future.
Colour Triangles
Colour in triangles. Water colour on paper 960 x 620 mm 2004 £3,500 SOLD In 2004 I began a very experimental year working with colour. It seemed absurd to be buying all these different coloured paints. Mixing colour was becoming more and more important so I decided to tackle the problem head on. So my 2004 colour work laid the foundation of how I use colour now. Essentially all my work originates just using red, yellow and blue. Here we have a painting using cadmium red and yellow and cobalt blue. 816 triangles, all unique.
Colour Squares
Colour Square 2006 Water colour on paper 500 x 700mm £1,750 This has a strong textile feel to it. It’s an extension of the idea of the previous painting except with more structure. The options available and the variety of results that can be achieved working this way are endless. With watercolour the colour element becomes incredibly complex due to the effect of the various colours within each wash altering when they are combined with the previous wash or washes. This is perhaps better illustrated with the Überpaintings featured in chapter 5. They evolved 5 years after this painting and would not have been possible without this transition in the way I worked. When a perfect tonal and colour contrast is achieved within in a painting it can sing to the eye. Only watercolour can do this.
Abstract in Blue
Abstract in Blue 2006. 1,000 x 700mm watercolour on Paper £3,250 This comes from total experimentation. I’m afraid that as with many paintings in this book I have to have my secrets. The qualities of transparency and tone are highlighted. It’s an exploration into watercolour paint itself.
Fibonacci Pyramids
SOLD Fibonacci Pyramids 700 x 900mm Watercolour on paper 2007 £6,500 I was in the depths of my Fibonacci experiments. Here I actually constructed a model of a set of pyramids based on the Fibonacci sequence, 1,1,2,5,8 etc and painted it. The largest pyramid in the top right is number 13 in the sequence, number 597. The understanding and ability to recognise wider patterns and rhythms not just in my subjects but in the way I work has become very important. A lot of the work on Fibonacci and the roads it lead me down no longer surprise me when resurface in some new form years later. One of the most basic and well known aspects associated with this sequence is the golden section or ratio 1:1.61, achieved by dividing any larger number in the sequence by its predecessor. It is the proportions of the perfect rectangle. I’ve always felt that composition if anything is my strongest instinctive ability. A painting must have balance of line tone and colour; I really think that after enough painting this becomes natural. Again a feature prevalent with the development of my Überpaintings.
Cut Out
SOLD
Cut Out 2
SOLD Cut out 2 500x700m watercolour and paper 2007 £2,650I found a pair of compasses to be a brilliant drawing tool for doodling and they were essential to this painting. When combining squares, circle, triangles, many patterns and shapes appear. All that is needed is to pick which one to highlight. It is a bit of a rabbit warren and lead me to look at a lot of more technical work. M C Escher was perhaps the greatest advocate of the possibilities that this type of experimentation can lead to.
3D Abstract in Pink
Water colour and emulsion 500 x 700mm 2005 £2,250 A painting with two distinct phases in two mediums. Almost impossible to describe the technique I found here and how that came about. When I first produced a painting like this I was stunned. It’s something I would love to do again. The three dimensional effect is uncanny. This is the technique in its simplest form
3D Abstract in Red & Green
SOLD 13 Emulsion on paper 500 x 700mm £2,250 Here I used red and green colour opposites. The colours you use when wearing 3d glasses. For some reason this enhances the three dimensional effect. Fascinating as it is a complete optical illusion. This phase of abstract work can be characterised by the absence of a brush. It’s more about the dynamics of the paint than anything else.
Dots
Dots Watercolour 500 x 700mm 2005 £1,750 An interesting technique. Painted in just three primary colours, cadmium yellow, cadmium red and French Ultramarine. Again there is no brush involved. The intricacies of producing this painting are peculiar..This is quite simply a synopsis of my palette
3D dots
Dots Mixed media 500 x 700mm watercolour and emulsion 2005 £2,250 The first phase here would be the previous painting although with denser dots. The second phase is the application of the emulsion paint. The effect of actually standing in front of one of these paintings is mesmerising. The painting seems to have two entirely different depths, it’s impossible to focus on them both at the same time.
Braided Abstract 1
Mixed media 600 x 800mm inches watercolour and emulsion 2005 £2,950 Another painting with a variation on the technique. Much larger. I was eventually able to paint these on 4 x 8 feet sheets of chipboard. It’s an area I would really like to get back to working on. Although they are abstract they are unified by the technique. Technique and process as I discuss later have become increasingly important. This series is the first time I really embraced this concept. It’s vital to establish a norm from which to deviate from in order that you can return having succeeded or failed, but always the more knowledgeable painter as a result.
Braided Abstract 2
SOLD Mixed media 500 x 700mm inches watercolour and emulsion 2006 £2,950 SOLD Here there is a geometric pattern in the initial watercolour phase. There was about 12 hours work here. So the application of the emulsion in the second stage feels and is high risk, nerves are required. Again the importance of the technical aspects and practice, not to mention co-ordinatuion and planning are crucial.
Pyramid 1
Triangle 2005 960 x 620mm Watercolour on paper £2,750 SOLD I worked on a whole series of paintings revolving around geometric shapes and distortions. A simple conundrum, a triangle free floating in space or a cavity, or both probably.
Pyramid 2
SOLD Triangle 2006 500 x 700mm Watercolour and emulsion £2,950. Similar to the dots painting however here I applied the emulsion over a more structured watercolour painting of an equilateral triangle in three dimensions, similar to the painting 9 on the opposite page.
Geometric Mixed Media
SOLD Geometric Mixed Media 500 x 700mm inches watercolour and emulsion 2006 £2,950 Every variation produces a very different finished painting. It can only be with this work that the outcome of each painting is entirely unique.
Nude in Triangles
Nude Triangles 2006 900 x 1,400mm Original watercolour. £12,500 This is one of the few truly large paintings in the book and was the end result of the development of a strange form of pixilation using triangles. About two weeks work here, the longest I have ever spent on a single painting. Perhaps the start of the germ of an idea that by restricting options a greater sense of creativity is free to emerge.
Collage in Blue
Collage in watercolour 700 x 900 mm Watercolour on paper. £5,500 Collage is underrated. I began this work in 2006 and found myself being continually surprised by each result. Here I painted a twin set of watercolours in the same technique as the watercolour on page 12. I then cut and spliced them together.
Pine Wood Collage
Pine Wood Collage. 700 x 900mm 2006 £2,950 This is a painting of a woodland cut into 1cm strips and then inverted. It is neither a mirror image or symmetrical but a curious mix of the two.