Semi-Abstract Seascapes & Landscapes

My landscapes and seascapes are my experiences of time and place compressed into a moment. As often as possible I go and explore, immersing myself and taking in the details. Sometimes I will sketch or takes photos, as this will help cement the experience into my mind where I will contemplate it in the studio and work on the elements that stood out for me before bringing them to life. For me, the best time to be out and about is early morning and dusk, when the light casts deep shadows and the world glows with a warm light. The early mornings are also great as there is a stillness and calm in the moments before the world awakes.

My studio, in the Lake District National Park, is where I bring all the above together. I mainly work in a square format. The composition of my work fits nicely into it. Occasionally I will work on paintings in other dimensions and it’s great to see how these offer something different. I use oil paint because it offers me freedom to move it around and then take away. It can constantly evolve, just like the landscapes and seascapes that I am studying. It works well when applied thickly and yet it can create great depth when worked into the surface sparingly, leaving previous layers partially exposed. The paint is applied in this way to give the artwork itself a narrative and history, where the process of its creation can be glimpsed at in places – not dissimilar to the way in which the memory deals with the hazy recollection of a place once visited. It is my hope that those viewing my artworks recognise the experiences that I am aiming to communicate.