Phos Hilaron Painting

This painting was completed in the studio from sketches and photographs taken from many walks along the banks of the river Mersey at Hale, near Liverpool UK. This area is rich in birdlife, and in the evening the sound of curlews can be heard on the adjacent mudflats as the distant sun sinks below the field horizon under enormous skies. In this context I was reminded of pilgrimage routes and the lighting of the evening lamps, as suggested by the work's title. The glowing sun and distant lighthouse provide a further literal and metaphorical analogy.