The industrial workings of Bodmin Moor’s granite quarries and mineralogy predominate as a visual stimulus: some themes are vigorously abstracted, others more demonstrably figurative, but the principal focus and unifying thread is one of colour. It is the subject of the work.  

 

I use landscape as a point of reference only; of much greater concern is the interplay of colour and texture on the picture plane, with due respect to the double challenge of flat-surface composition and implied space. I have no wish to attempt landscape-as-portrait verisimilitude.  

 

Multi-layered lakes and glazes, and body colour cut heavily with a medium, are applied through filters or masks and accepts an element of surprise rather akin to pulling a proof in printmaking. Though composition is always a first consideration, it rarely subjugates anything unpremeditated revealed by their removal. It is absorbed as a consequence of process and not thought of as random. I would not wish to over-paint the spontaneous and vital simply because it was not part of the original design: much better to find a conclusion by other means, to sustain the painting’s own life.  

 

More recently, this motif has been enriched by exploration of the volcanic Eifel region of Germany as well as limestone and slate quarries in the Brecon Beacons. This has led to a re-appraisal and development of the theme. Though highly saturated colour and the flat picture-plane is still a dominant characteristic, some softening of my pallet is a consequence of this amalgamation. 

 

Colour relationships in the paintings are further evolved from close observation of an ever expanding mineral collection. These natural groupings constantly inform the compositions, often, though by no means always, being derived from the same geographical location. In my view the affinity is as obvious as it is inevitable.