Kents coast has long been a favourite subject for my oils and this collection has required many years of painting development. As a natural dabber (impressionist), it became necessary to create strong colourist bands and simplification of backgrounds. The introduction of people into scenes required simplification to give the work a more contemporary feel.
What is not so visible is the environmental contemplation that inspired the series. Having grown up in the the Highlands of Scotland where the dramatic landscape and absence of people that left a great impression. On moving to the South of England at the age of 11 I struggled for many years to find beauty as trees seemed to obscure any hills there may be. After 6 years of not painting having had to justify every mark at University I had to do a lot of undoing from the push towards abstraction. Upon returning started to take on an animated appearance I split this interest into animation so that my paintings could quieten down! Over 2 decades of painterly development has led me through similar steps as previous known impressionists and I’ve had to work hard to make that work my own: something that has evolved through colourly abstraction but also mark making in a way that satisfies me and enables me love the process of painting.
Ps Sea studies helped with abstraction and simplification which was a necessary step before adding pictorial elements like Yaughts (these became a subject of interest whilst visiting my beach hut in Whitstable over several years). A change of circumstance that led me to Margate then provided the perfect setting to introduce people. Living so close to Margate Main Sands I’m lucky enough to find the diversity of people and ever changing composition and colour of great inspiration for this series. A series of environmental pondering led me to see new forms of 21st Century beauty in the ever changing shapes and compositions of people at leisure in nature consuming less.
Recent work is now trying to capture the overall impression when Margate Main Sands get invaded each Summer!
