I worked on Gorse Edge before I started my landscape commission of Fold Head Farm to further develop my style and technique. Over time, I’ve become more interested in abstracting my landscapes. However, I’m conscious they don’t become too abstract to the point of being unrecognisable.
It’s not always important that the landscape is immediately recognised, or very clearly the subject. I like to create ‘feel’ and connection to the art based on the scene. For those familiar with the view or part of the landscape, it works best when there is little left to be argued that it’s representative, so there is a balance to be struck. Around that, creating in abstract can add a surreal or romantic quality that pulls the viewer in and keeps them interested. One of the best comments I can get about a landscape is “I keep having to look at it and I see something new and interesting every time”.
Evolving my art and technique is important to me and is something inherent that constantly drives my process. I don’t always enjoy looking back at earlier work as I can be a little too self-critical and I tend to be happiest about my latest work. This tendency rightly gets put into perspective when art buyers continue to enjoy older work in my portfolio. Artist’s aren’t always the best judges of what is their best work, so to keep sharing and be visible with a near complete portfolio is the right thing to do. I like to listen to what people say about my art and I carefully prune my portfolio as it grows to keep it strong and relevant.
Mapping imagined lines and contours
Gorse Edge marks a shift towards semi-abstract work that ties in imagined lines and contours more closely with the actual landscape as it appears. It’s a new technique I’ve discovered through process, which maps textures to visible segments. In a broader sense, texture, shape and colour is explored and only the main outlines or interesting features are included. My goal is to create a work that is memorable, familiar, yet unique, and also desirable as an addition to an interior space – hopefully to take pride of place as a statement piece.
Gorse Edge taught me a lot about new techniques to create textures and contrast, and how to orientate textures in visually appealing ways to build a strong composition. It’s easy to get carried away with detail when looking at a real-life landscape and working from photography as reference, but with Gorse Edge, I consciously focused on blocks without working too methodically.
The final piece is a strong composition with a new palette, rich in texture, and holds some ambiguity as to whether it’s autumn, winter, summer or nighttime.
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