In the studio

My workshop/studio speaks for itself……it’s a jumble of part-completed works spilling over each other. I’m happy that this seems to prompt connections between works…..an answer in one piece sometimes gives a clue in another.

First in the series of Bulkeley Hill walks

Several series are currently in progress.

Bulkeley Hill is a series of larger-scale pieces, reflecting observations over time, recording walks over a favourite piece of landscape. Its nature, of sometimes densely wooded patches suddenly opening up over a vista of the Cheshire Plain is a complex visual problem that continues to intrigue me. This piece is the first in the series and is concerned with the outward leg of a walk.

Continuing the **Hedgerow** series I’ve been searching for ways in which I can ‘clean up’ or focus on a slightly more graphic image-This is an early response to making decisions about balancing detail against big planes of colour. *The latest ‘sibling’ piece to this can be seen in the show at The Willow Gallery', Oswestry until October 20th*

Some of the latest work takes on a fuller textural/relief aspect, as a response to this landscape, around Macclesfield Forest….a contrast to much of the rest of Cheshire. I’m searching for ways to answer the sheer physicality of the area, compared to the relatively less dramatic, flat, areas of Cheshire. This series has been ‘neglected’ in the workshop for months… I’m waiting for inspiration!

Relief painting in progress. Macclesfield Forest

Girona

I’m exploring the shimmering interplay between figures and buildings and balconies in this short series of work. The visual ‘stew’ of locals, tourists walking, often framed by the architecture interests me. Sudden glimpses and ‘peeps’ into windows and doorways, whilst lots of things go quite unnoticed above their heads.