Friday 3 February 2012

COMING OUT OF HIBERNATION!


 © All is safely gathered in
Oil on canvas 80 x 80

I have been taking a holiday from my blog over the past few months.  I needed to re-think where I was going with my painting. Somewhere along the line I had forgotten how to enjoy myself in the studio and so over the past few months I have been putting so called ‘artistic integrity’ on one side and simply having a good time!

One of the first routes back to this feeling of well being has been a journey of the imagination, conjuring up a character out of my childhood - an English West Country farmer going about his daily work on a big red tractor.  This farmer has now been joined by some sheep and gradually other members of the ‘village’ where he lives are appearing in my paintings.

© Walking the dog
Oil on canvas 80 x 80

It’s all a long way from the mountains I was painting last year, a nostalgic trip and to some extent a marriage between my painting and my children’s illustration work.  I hope what it has done is to create something that has a touch of humour that will reach out to the child in the viewer at a time when we could all do with a little more in our lives to make us smile.

© Burt's sheep