Beacons of hope Print

This is part of a series of works inspired by Beacon Hill in Leicestershire. It’s an area that I have visited many times over a period of about 40 years. As an art student I spent a lot of happy hours sketching, taking photos and playing guitar there. Now I visit all year round, watching the changing seasons, still sketching and taking photos but now I take the dog instead of the guitar. Some of the series is totally abstract while others are closer to recognisable landscapes. I want to express the feel and mood of the place rather than depict a specific location. The work is probably more about my internal thoughts than the external view. I think of them as dreamscapes. As such the landscape is simply a starting point for the work and the finished paintings are universal. This work is part imaginary. I wanted to try to evoke the feeling of the Beacons lit across the many hilltops of the Midlands in ancient times. I used multiple sketches of the rocks and observation of fire and photographs of bonfires lit in the area as a starting point. Then in the studio I didn’t refer much to these reference material as I wanted to produce something that was more about memory and imagination than representation. Oil paint is applied in many thin glazes. The glazes of oil paint create a semi-translucent surface revealing subtle colour variations with prolonged viewing. My main references for this were Piper, Bosch and Turner and contemporary artists Chu Te Chun, Zao Wou-Ki and Cruz Jimenez. The painting is framed with a black, thin, elegant, simple, open grain wooden frame. I hope the viewer can feel something of the layers of history. Whilst it is inspired by a specific place the aim is to find some connection with all of humanity’s ancient origins in lighting fires for warmth, communication and communion.