Paintings

My paintings are mostly made using acrylic paint. I use Golden full body paint and have done since I discovered it when making work for my graduation year. It has a really high pigment content and I can thin it with Matt Medium to any required consistency. Golden have a great range of product information sheets and videos available on line too, which is great if I hit a technical problem. As long as I remember not to thin the paint too much with water, and use the medium so the integrity of the polymer is not compromised, I am ok! I use Matt medium because I hate any shine in my work.

I make studies for paintings using a variety of media; acrylic, gouache, emulsion, stick pigment, ink and collage.

The paintings in this section are a mix of sizes and shapes. I really enjoy making paintings on a large scale because I am interested in the way a painting can envelope the onlooker, what Jackson Pollock described as "being in" the painting. The way a painting goes in and out of focus when it is looked at close to and then as a whole, from further away is fascinating. The large portrait format paintings relate to my own body's reach; as far as I can reach to each side and as high as I can reach above my head. This is a simple technique to relate the work directly to me. Early landscape pieces for my graduation show were made in the landscape format (longer sides at the bottom and top), and then turned up the other way to indicate the vertical human standing within the landscape. It is a device I used to avoid making "straightforward" landscape paintings; a way to express the conceptual ideas I was working with.

I shall change the paintings in this section occasionally to keep the "gallery" fresh. I hope you find them interesting.

Works, completed in between North Yorkshire Open Studios weekends, June 201

Group shot of all the paintings, before they were finished. I was uneasy about them at this stage although I did like the rawness of them, I felt they were not as complete as my other work.

And here are some of the small works, completed. They are acrylic and mixed media on board, 51 x 40.5cm. Exhibited at The White Room Gallery, Priestley's No.36, Bootham, York:

Veil

Rhythms

Farewell

Memories

Song

Journey

Fabricate

Commune

Marking Time, solo exhibition, Easter 2013:

Spring (new beginnings) Acrylic on canvas h 2264mm x w 1715mm

Winter (how many endings) Acrylic on canvash 2264mm x w 1715mm

The above two paintings are the size that relate to my body, as discussed in the introductory text. I have two more to complete in this series, Spring and Summer and I will start these in the new year.

History Painting Acrylic on canvas w 405 x h 174 cm

Spring, small study on paper, mixed media

Summer, small study on paper, mixed media

Autumn, small study on paper, mixed media

Winter, small study on paper, mixed media

There is something rather interesting about the irregular edges that I create when keeping the work within the boundaries of the support. It reminds me of the edges of a piece of knitted textile or loose weaving. At the moment, I am considering making some large paintings based on these studies, keeping the work within the boundaries of the canvas as in these small works.