Seascapes and rugged landscapes.

When the rain drove us out of the mountains we would go down to the lochs and the sea.  Being on such a wild coastline where the mass of saltwater meets the land was for me deeply sensual in a felt kind of way.

Sitting, looking, studying, feeling the presence of such a vast body of fluid squeezed into an unyielding landscape.  The weight of the deep swell, the skittering light of a squall, the running of the tide. The  subtle layers of formless colours and hues.

I collect things whilst I'm here I collect things to help revisit my thoughts whilst I paint.

Image-Portuairk Ardnamurchan Dusk OIl on Canvas 50x50cm

As a geography student whenever I had the time and money I would come to the Lakes climbing and walking. I had an old tatty collection of climbing guides illustrated by Heaton Cooper, a Wainwright book as well as a Gallery Guide from London. I'd spend  time in Borrowdale and the Vale of Keswick thumbing the few pages which showed the Lake District work  of Constable and Turner . Those guys didn't sit around they walked miles exploring and climbing from Dale to high Fell. They along with the poets extolled their feelings on this areas beauty and laid down unwritten rules about working paint here.

Image, Blencathra Storm viewed from Lingholm. Oil on Board 30x24cm

The Lake District fells are a world of many worlds. Each valley different. This place on the top of Haystacks, innominate tarn lies at the head of three deep valleys. It is perfect lakeland. The tarn like a chalice of pure water reflects the clouds and the sun as they bundle together to buffet, sweep and swirl below, above and by your side.

Little wonder that Alfred Wainwright the master explorer of the fells chose this as his final resting place.

Image Haystacks Innominate Tarn 50x50cm Acrylics

Morecambe Bay is a giant mirror reflecting the sun's light and bouncing it around the estuary until all is bathed in a silver glow.

Like all of nature the sea here can be both beautiful and threatening.Throughout the last centuries Monks and lay people walked across the shifting sands to the Christian Abbey which sits by the shoreline. The stillness of the water on some days belies the deathtrap of the vast flowing tide. Sitting and looking and feeling such a vast body of still water is unique. The movement shows that its a major part this living world.  the seas nuances make for colour changes over a vast area. Oils are a good medium to use here. 

Image Cumulus Rising Allonby Bay oil on canvas 106x76cm

I can sit and watch the pattern of the clouds crossing the moorland for hours.

Whilst working on paintings up on the high moor it's easy to become solely fixed. The movement of grass and clouds make for millions of colour changes. Painting quickly seems to be the answer. Yet if you rush something it can be wrong. You may miss the very spark of light on a distant lake that you seek. Here amongst the grasses it is very much like the sea is. Rarely still ever changing.

I collect small sketches and mementos of this place as I walk, a nearly perfect stone from a stream bed, an owls tail feather a Scots Pine Cone, some dried seeds from the tall grasses down by the lake. Back in the studio they remind me of past moments.

The Grane . oil on board  . 30x30cm