I am currently deep in 'painting mode', making new work for my upcoming solo show at Beechers Gallery this July.
This new body of work brings together landscapes from here in Pembrokeshire, alongside paintings shaped from 'plein air' studies, made during recent visits to Herefordshire.
Although the two places feel quite different, they have started to speak to one another through the work. There is a shared sense of light and colour.
Lately, with the nice weather, the studio doors have been wide open, and I can hear skylarks singing above the neighbouring fields as I paint.
That sound is one of those small, precious gifts of the season. Easy to miss when you're not listening, but quite magical when you pause long enough to notice it.
When I was in Herefordshire making studies for the show, I heard skylarks there too, singing high above the rolling fields. Somehow, that sound has become a thread running through the collection, linking the two landscapes and bringing an uplifting feeling of freedom and space.
There are Pembrokeshire scenes with clear coastal colours, and Herefordshire views with soft inland light. Some of these paintings are wintery, others are sunny, but they all seem to circle a similar feeling.
I am always interested in the point where a landscape becomes more than a place. It begins to hold memory, atmosphere and emotion, and that quiet sense of being in nature and taking a moment to notice things, like the relentless singing of the skylarks.
It feels like a very personal collection, and I am looking forward to sharing more as it comes together.
