Blue Collar Painting

Grieve is a self taught artist who grew up in the Bohemian Sixties Camden. An Ambassador for the charity Outside In, part of a group of volunteers for the charity, to have been awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
He divides his time between being out in the landscape and back at his Devon studio. Grieve really values the importance of being out walking and sketching along the rivers and hills in South Devon throughout the year. A rendezvous with each of the Seasons as they come and go. He is equally happy wrapped up in waterproofs or conversely with a parasol. There are brief encounters with the passing, inquisitive walkers, however being in the landscape is what it is all about for him. Artist Statement Working with a range of materials Grieve develops surfaces through sensory expressions, that evolve into landscapes.
These landscapes are documented through sketches on site initially with “found material”, natural pigments. He may then add some charcoal, liquid graphite or pencil to add to the marks. Grieve also on occasion makes minor interventions with natural materials at the site to get in touch with the environment that he is working with. Returning to the studio he begins working on Fabriano paper using materials gathered from the landscape including feathers, clay, mud and leaves, adding studio materials and pigments including Bideford Black, Shellac and Gesso leading me to to build an expression of my experience in the landscape.
Due to the loss of our sense of place within the seasons and our rhythm with nature , I am wanting to document this in our changing landscapes, through repeated site visits over a year or more, building a visual dialogue.