Experimental works
“Close but no cigar”
I really love the saying close but no cigar because it expresses the paintings that get away. Experiments are the works that I do on those paintings that don’t quite make the grade. It’s usually a small compositional annoyance or colour balance that I can’t correct any more. I never feel comfortable selling these works because I am not 100% happy with them. But on the same token I’m not ready to put them on the bonfire. So I experiment on them. Welcome to my latest confluence of ideas. These paintings are from my travels
Japan Hong Kong Norfolk Island Tasmania and windy harbour. All a dramatic seascapes. And you may notice that does seem to be a dramatic sky. I have decided to Melde these landscapes with an interest in marine flora. At the end of the ‘00s when I move back to the south west I did a series of works called carbon sink.
These this works tried to convey ideas around the importance of the plants in the ocean diatoms marine algae is red brown and green, and bleaching. Some works are set in harbours in highly populated areas and with these I try to emphasise the idea of preserving and keeping the environment in a densely populated areas pristine. That we should not allow our pollution to go into the oceans as these are massively important to the stability of our planet. Return. Drawing on observational drawing, the wealth of botanical records and my own close but no cigar Paintings I have layered imagery to provoke thoughts around pristine and built-up environments and finding beauty and worth in the smallest things. Cherishing what we have actually already done and using a human ingenuity To repair and hopefully in the distant future improve the mess that we have made.
