"Upland" Painting

I am an abstract painter, living and working near Bishop’s Castle in the Shropshire hills.

I am an abstract painter, living and working in the south Shropshire hills. Following a career in graphic design I moved to Shropshire from Sussex a few years ago and began painting full time from my studio which overlooks the borderlands of the Welsh Marches.

The work is very much about my experience of this landscape. I spend a lot of time walking and observing the immediate environment and examining and absorbing elements of the landscape that are important to me – the textural layering from land cultivation, the linear forms, the shape and contour of the land, the darkness and contrast of the forested valleys, the accents of colour and the changing weather patterns. It is my personal response to the landscape, my line of sight.

I work building up multiple layers with palette knife and then sanding, scoring and erasing to reveal or obscure a memory of something previous. The textural detail and colour is used as a contrast, to focus or balance the composition and although the textures and colours are broadly from the landscape they are not used in any representational way. I like the idea that there are areas in the painting that may look flat from afar but when you examine them closely there is much more going on – the surface has been reworked and is often highly textured.

Through the application of layers of gesso, charcoal, acrylic, charcoal and graphite, there is always evidence of numerous adjustments and traces left behind. I am always aware of how important accident or the element of chance are, changing the direction of the work and often taking it down an unexpected route.

Watch a film about my practice here - https://vimeo.com/677576193