Winter Collection...

Whilst the sign of daffodils and the odd warmish and sunny day are indicating that Spring has clearly begun, I am just coming to the close of what I have come to think of as my winter collection.  And so before March breaks to April I'd like to record its existence here.  Winter is a funny time for so many people, hampered with low mood and the sometimes anti climax of the end of year festivities it's a tricky period, and I do personally have points where I really struggle.  However, winter has a lot to offer visually and finding solace in my sketchbook I look for any excuse to get out and about in the passenger seat of our car, where I can be in my own little portable driving studio.  There is much beauty to be found in a winters landscape and in the last couple of years I've enjoyed drawing on it (please excuse the pun).  This year has resulted in a series of paintings which I will aim to share over a few posts.  

This pair below came about whilst working on a larger painting on canvas.  I tend to surround myself with sketches and photographs from my excursions and it is often my practice to keep smaller pieces of paper and card to paint on to one side.  This means I can try out colours or mark making or indeed take advantage of an overflow of ideas in the process, as it happens.  Sometimes just using up a bit of paint can create a 'happy accident' and produce something I find aesthetically pleasing...  which is what happened with these two.  Often in my work I am exploring that horizon line, that which for me gives calm and balance and that which joins land and sky with us in between.  These paintings are born of a season with dramatic skies, an escape over the hills to the sea and a freedom to express through mark making in paint.

Acrylic on card, approx. 12.5cm x 30cm