IThe exhibition ‘Chasing Light’ at the Quay Arts Centre in Newport, Isle of Wight was a catalyst for large body of new monotype works created since summer 2010. It was held from 3 March until May 2012.
Statement: The works explore my relationship with the IOW coastal landscape and record the moods and exhilaration of my time spent there on regular trips; the sheer elation of being on this special island, usually viewed at a distance across land and water from my home in the South Downs or Portsmouth where I work; working outside at any time of day or night and my resolve to record the developing light and changing scene revealed. Locations include Luccombe, near Shanklin, St Catherine’s lighthouse and Rocken End, Gurnard and Cowes. I have been a regular visitor to the Isle of Wight since childhood where I sailed with my family who were members of the Island Sailing Club. For the last twenty five years I have enjoyed regular trips and holidays to the Island several times a year and love the varied coastal and rural landscape. I make drawings, paintings and monoprints by combining texture, color, composition, shape and line. The monoprints are developed from sketches made from life using pastel for colour, graphite and conte for line. The Chasing Light work required resolve, energy and stamina to rise early in the dark, setting up outside, waiting for the dawn to develop and then drawing until too tired to continue. The imagery is then completed in the print studio working from the sketches which enable a continuation of this process. My visual memory is assisted from the multi-sensory outdoor experience of the surroundings at different states of night and day. My own approach to monoprint enables a simplification of the sketches and it is through this that I have developed my own visual language of mark-making and semi-abstraction. The original energy of the encounter helps to evolve the work throughout the process. Sandown BayAlmost Daybreak, Sandown Bay
Oil on paper monotype Image size 450mm x 645mm Frame size 725mm x 1025mm |
Rocken End, St Catherine's pointRocken End
Oil on paper monotype Image size 400x 360mm Frame size 500 x 400 mm St Catherine's LighthouseSt Catherine's Lighthouse I
Oil on paper monotype Image size 360mm x 240mm Frame size 500mm x 400mm Sold Cowes shipping series
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