My work is synonymous with the Dark Peak and interpreted in textured paintings of the moors and grit edges, in all weather and seasons.
Sketchbook drawing and watercolour painting in the landscape is a very important to my creative process, discovering compositions, colour and light
I have developed a very physical painting technique when interpreting the Dark Peak District in oils. Splattering, dripping, scraping and eventually building up dense layers of paint and sand on the canvas. The surface texture of the work is all important to me, adding materials from the landscape including, bracken, heather and grit sand, which are attached to the canvas with strong glues.
150 x 100cm Clearing rain towards Kinder Scout. Mixed Media
I cut and drag the media around the canvas, using palette knives, forks, spoons, etc.
150 x 100cm Evening Shower Over Ladybower Reservoir. Mixed Media
These processes combine to reinforce the lack of permanence in the nature of landscape. For me, the properties of a landscape can best be discovered when I have visited a location numerous times, preferably over several years. In painting familiar subject matter, the inessential falls away leaving only the essential.