toby
hazel.
Much of my work is abstract, but I also enjoy painting images from nature that appear to me to have an abstract quality, such as rock faces, the surface of water and tree bark. I try to embrace these abstract features and make the most of the colour within the scene.I like to find a balance between painterly techniques and accurate representation when painting from nature. I love the way that water can behave in many different ways. I use various techniques to try to capture how water looks and feels. Each water painting is a new challenge for me; full of experimentation and risk.
Wherever I go I take photographs and videos that I may later use as the basis for paintings. I study these at length, and with the water paintings in particular I need to have a clearly thought-out, yet flexible plan of how I will approach the painting from a technical point of view. I often revisit old photographs, and it may take several years before I feel I am ready to start turning these recollections of the original experience into a painting.
