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Subject Matter
I have been enthusiastic about castles from the age of ten. This enthusiasm subsequently expanded to include all historic buildings, their landscape settings, and eventually pure landscape. Despite a lifetime of looking at old buildings, I still find it difficult to explain why they give me such pleasure. There are the more obvious factors, such as that the buildings were made by people long before I was born,
will still be here long after I am dead, and this gives a strong sense of continuity. The patina of age is also very attractive - the weathering of materials, such as the growth of lichens on stone, and the softening effect that this has on the original structure, but there is something else, something
intangible, and it is this that I try to convey in my paintings. I try to show what it felt like being
there. Only viewers of the pictures will be able to tell whether I have succeeded.
It has been said that buildings only look at their best once they are ruined. This seems an odd idea but I think it may be right, although I do not fully understand why. An enthusiasm for the natural world requires no explanation. There is beauty in abundance, all of it informed by light, and we are hugely fortunate to exist on the surface of this planet.
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Website last updated 20th November 2023 |