Inter-tidal

from sketching at two bird reserves over the last few months, ideas for capturing the relationship for birds and the water -with it’s seasonal movements- are emerging..

these preliminary paintings are called ‘signs of spring’ a series within the bulk of the other work..

I haven’t been used to painting vertical lines so this old boat was a challenge and to me the lines stand out, but maybe as a transitional painting it works , as I want to move slightly into more object focused work.

Another transition is the change of colours from turquoise into this cobalt blue in ‘Sea stones’..

Today I cleared a space to begin to think about open studio this year, I have lots of loose sketches, which I can’t afford to get framed, it’s possibly a way of parting with them.

The sea has a kind of creamy light cast over it in the winter, but only on clear days. being mostly in rain and cloud among the mountains means that the occasional visit to the coast is certain as it is often totally clear, so it is something to remember to do.

I’m beginning the second phase of the painting,  focus will be more intense than before, leading up to the exhibition at the end of the year. I am also showing some work in a local youth hostel, interestingly where the philosopher Bertrand Russell helped to restore for a few years , there is an old photograph of him and friends carrying spades and furniture on the wall in the lounge  * he was born in North Wales.

I have an appointment in a lovely glass fronted building at the Conwy bird reserve in Spring, it looks out over another estuary so the idea is to theoretically link the two estuaries within the work and allow the visitors to see how I develop a painting.

Meanwhile looking over some photographs of the lighthouse which I have fond memories of visiting last year. Here is the interior stairway.

interior of South Stack lighthouse Angelsey, North Wales

painting from memory, ‘Sea-land’

This painting took a while. I realise that I’m only using a fraction of what I ‘see’ in reality to spark the final paintings then allow them to develop. Although I use the occasional sketch in situ it is discarded fairly early on after I’ve transferred the ‘shape’ of the land/sea.

At either a challenging pace or to play safe with the colour and the content. there is something about that conflict which ultimately balances the work.  Moving from chaos to quietness and settling somewhere in between. Of course the sea being a vast space -and in more detail, a microcosm of activity there is also the conflict between the larger picture and the details.

Later paintings may explore this, as the psychological aspects of this artistic engagement change , to reflect such a volatile element

I was hoping to see the elusive ‘green ray’ which occurs sometimes when the sun finally sinks on the horizon. Only shades of violet remained.

I found this stone circle that someone had made on the sand and it interacted beautifully with the sunset.

As far as painting is concerned, lots of interruption with computer repairs and other jobs, waiting for the next canvas purchase. In the meantime reading Jung’s memoirs. He related to the psychological calm and reflective quality of water and built a tower so that he could spend time by the lake.

Lake, sea and river do tend to have calming qualities, unless of course you’re kayaking down the rapids !