The Intimate Landscape
Each of the paintings shown here are 6 x 8 inches, oil on canvas panels. In painting landscapes on small surfaces there is some irony in the work: portraying a vast scene on an intimate scale hovering around the size of a postcard, the vast is viewed in miniature. It is in these quickly painted works that the essence of place comes alive. I am interested in painting the equation between land and sky, and most specifically the objects that bridge these dominant spaces: trees. Based on scenes from Barberry Hill where I live and work, there is often very little correcting; the paintings are done with direct immediacy, “all in one go.” Little attention is paid to detail; suggestion is paramount to the work’s success. Brushes loaded with wet paint roughly delineate elements in the compositions to convey brief moments of visual experiences, subjects, and seasons.
2018–24
Many of these paintings are now in private collections; see Small Paintings for available work.