Original artwork description:

‘Flowered Eye’ is an acrylic painting on canvas 92 width x102 cms height . It is part of a series of paintings called 'Horizons'. In this context a horizon relates to a range of vision or a field of view. I live on the North West coast of the U.K. I walk the beach coastline with our dogs every morning at different times. The skylines I see are often very colorful and dramatic and as such have helped to inspire the horizon paintings. This is not however an attempt to capture realism, rather an expression of feeling, mood and atmosphere. The sources which inspire these particular paintings are varied and many, including historic signs, symbols and motifs, mythology , coastal skies, the seasonal changes of the coastal landscape and the natural habitat of the Sefton coast wildlife. I’m inspired also by the work of colourists Henri Matisse, John Hoyland, Paul Gauguin, Howard Hodgkin, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Rae, Hans Hoffman, Alan Davie, Corneille and the COBRA group. I listen to a lot of music every day and always when I paint. There is perhaps a comfortable relationship between the genres of ambient music and improvised jazz that fits well as a setting for the paintings. The boundaries of what can be managed in a painting present a constant challenge to me and through a process of layering, cancellation and improvisation my intention is always to test such boundaries. I have used text within the image in all of the ‘Horizon’ series. I use words similarly to the way I use colours. Sentences or phrases are placed to suggest and direct how a viewer might perceive the work and develop their own understanding. ‘Flowered Eye’ is inspired by the ‘Salt Water’ poems of 20th century English poet John Masefield . The text in the painting is not from the poem, but provides another possible expressive verse. An excerpt from the poem reads :
‘I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.’
The use of text is ambiguous, yet clearly related and important to the images I make. e.g: The compositions are structured to allow for incidental visual melodies in the same way a musician can create a sense of meaning and atmosphere through incident and improvised sound. The paintings incorporate visual melodies that have a principal part in the visual harmony.
I work on custom made frame stretched 8oz unprimed cotton canvas. The unprimed canvas allows dichlorotriazine dyes to saturate and bleed into the working area. I work over the dyed canvas using brushes, knives, cloths and squeegees to manage layers of acrylic paint. It is a continuous process of ‘correction’. At different stages I add crushed sea shells to the paint to create heavier surfaces. The paintings are built in layers over a period of time. I like to work on several canvasses at the same time, often returning to a previous painting to affect change and absorb influence from another source. Most of my work is made in series.
The painting is shipped in a robust custom made cardboard crate (same as those used to transport large screens). The painting is bubble wrapped to protect the canvas. Further wrapping is made with corrugated card. A wooden frame is placed inside the cardboard crate to preserve the structural strength of the packaging. Each painting is insured to its sale value. Shipping costs within the U.K. take into consideration weight and insurance. U.K. shipping costs for this artwork are £90

Materials used:

Acrylic paint, dyes, crushed sea shells on 8 ounce unprimed canvas