ARTISTS TALKING

# 2 [29 December 2009]

Winter is here and the studio is mighty cold even with the heating system on full blast. At times like this I wish I could paint in gloves not only to keep my hands warm but to protect them from the erosion caused by paint contact. A body of work is starting to take shape although I am aware that time is ticking on.

The way I use the photograph documentation is changing. Previously I was interested in capturing the whole image, mainly thinking about the visual perception to the public but recently I am finding that I have been much more interested in small sections of the photographs, snap shots of a snap shot. I am more draw to this and my experiments are unearthing dreamlike surreal abstract compositions of moving light encompassing orbs and light flashback from the lens. I feel if I was to have more time I would begin to chop up and take different elements from the digital images; this could be done through the use of Photoshop. I will probably experiment and develop this idea after the show.

I have been playing with the canvas surface, still incorporating a mixture of styles of working with pallet knife and brush.  This is beginning to work, the most successful has been in the use of masking tape to cover sections of the canvas, and then carefully applying oil mixed with Liquin Impasto medium. The medium itself thickens oil pigment but does not detract from the colour – the tape is then carefully removed, this creates strong bold block impasto sections of paint which has proved very effective in capturing the streaks of light created by long exposed photographs. I have also tried out other mediums such as Spectra gel and Liquin and have started to experiment with varnishes on the surface.

The spectra gel gives a very glossy finish to the surface, much like a spot UV finish in printing. In one painting the composition itself is symmetrical with one section purely worked in impasto with a pallet knife and the other in oil mixed with spectra gel worked in detail using a brush encouraging the creation of a strong visual impact and helping the viewer to engage with the ideas in the creation of the piece. This as lead me to think about the application of paint and the canvas surface, something I never encountered at University.

I am becoming even more fascinated by paint now and find it strange that so many young artists do not have an interest in painting as there is so much more to be discovered and so much more that can be added to the history of painting.

# 1 [15 November 2009]

As a young contemporary painter based in Nottingham, two years out of University I never imagined that I would be in the position of putting a solo show together. Funded by the Arts council, Derby City Council and support from Copy Right Print, the show will take place in May 2010 at the Derby City Museum and Art Gallery.
My interest to date has always been to capture a sense of place (genius loci) of the nocturnal city environment. This is something that has captivated my imagination ever since moving to the city environment from my child hood village home.

For the start of the project I have been documenting the three East Midland Cities, Leicester, Nottingham and Derby. Wandering around the city at night with backpack, tripod and camera a toe, it is surprising how many people approach you and query what you are doing.
Indeed, on one of my trips to Derby I almost found myself stranded there as I had not checked the times of the closure of the multi story car park and arrived to find all the doors locked. Fortunately a kind car park attendant heard me knocking on the door and released my vehicle from the car park building. Always do you research on a place before you arrive.


I aim to take glimpse snap shots of this nocturnal city environment. The camera, set for long time-laps shots is an important part of the process; a form of note taking for me, research that I will take back into the studio. The photograph is a snap shot reference of time. It depicts what the eye can see, however, the shutter speeds on the camera can change what it depicts, Photographic long exposure images increase the light intensity and captures the motion of traffic in crisscross streaks of light, star effects of the street lamps and photo anomalies. I added a filter to the lens and began experimenting with water on the lens creating these orbs of light that seem placeless UFO’s on the cityscape.

As a painter I use the photographs as research in the studio. I am very interested in the elements of the photograph that the camera can capture but our eyes cannot. It is intended that the abstracting forms of light and motion will be produced using the brush back drop of the cityscape

The progress towards the show has revealed many new and exciting ideas with regards to the application of oil paint. Previous work had only focused on the application of paint using a pallet knife, but I have found restrictions in capturing aspects of detailed representation, certainly areas of light reflection. To overcome this I decided to use a combination of applications of paint. Combining both pallet knife and brush will allow me too overcome the obstacle but I feel this will take some developing.