Drawing board

This is one of the ‘out-takes’ from the painting called Rivermouth.

There is a depiction of a world looking out toward the ocean. Closer inspection also reveals the bottom left of the work ending to expose a hand patting a small dog, [The fox terrier ‘Chloe’], so we see that there is more going on than simple representation.

In a study of Art history there is are precedents of this idea, for example, in his artwork “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”, [This is not a pipe], the renowned surrealist Henri Magritte offers for our consideration that an image of a pipe is not the same thing as a pipe itself.

In just the same way when we make an image of a landscape it is never that landscape itself, but an interpretation of it affected by what happens during the process of making.

This is something quite vital to my process. For example, I am interested in experimenting with what can happen to pigments. How far can they be stretched to create a sense of fluidity, or cracked to create a sense of time and wear.

In this way the materials themselves inform the representation of things and our predisposition to confuse the image with the thing it represents is revealed. This is the place where my stories of increased visual understanding go. Again, for example, that air and ocean are both fluids and their treatment with materials can reflect this.

So this landscape has been shown to be placed on top of the desktop where I am creating it. Out in the sticks and insects and heat of the day the dog seeks the solace of my lap and brings that touching affection into play.