Rydal Mount - Where tipp'd With Gold, the Mountains summit glow'd Print

This painting is of Rydal Mount, the home of William Wordsworth in Cumbria from 1813 to his death in 1850. Wordsworth referred to the mountains being tipp'd with gold in his poem 'An Evening Walk'. I make my work from a combination of first hand observational drawings and paintings in the open air, backed up by photos as aide memoirs back in the studio, as well as imagination to produce a final piece on canvas using mixed media, a combination of oil paint, non-recyclable plastics either collaged or ‘soldered’ onto the canvas, and pastel. I want people to enjoy my images and to perhaps re look at their own environment through a more vibrant lens, but then on closer inspection to discover the different materials on the canvas and ask questions as to why I use plastic; why it is there. I want the discovery of plastic on the canvas to be as subtle as it is in the environment – not really understanding its greater impact at first, but when given the time to contemplate its wider effects, to think beyond the surface, beyond the beauty.