River Bank
This piece began in a similar way to my previous painting ‘Concrete Glass’. It started with an ordinary walk through an urban environment, but in this case, by the side of a small river close to where I live – a piece of wild London.
It is a diptych of a river bank, trees and weeds along the side, reflections within the water. It began with a photograph of the scene. I liked the fact that the actual trees and their reflections framed the image delicately and in equal balance.
Using Photoshop I merged an image of some material I had photographed. Originally this material had covered a building and hung in great swathes like some sort of shroud (something else that always seems to catch my attention.) I wanted to include it as it seemed to mirror and echo the movement within the water. I tried to emphasise how it dances and swirls and give a feeling of layers and depth within the river.
I printed my digital montage onto canvas and then using oil paint, I played with the colours, the light and the dark. Introducing small rough squares of pastel coloured paint I tried to emulate the sparkle and feeling of magic that occurs when the sun dapples upon the surface of the water.
I wanted to capture the sense of half-conscious thoughts that dreamily play with this ordinary but alive scene. A maelstrom of rhythms and patterns, suggestions of the baroque inner world, the idea of your subconscious looking back at you.
