Original artwork description:

‘Siena Fields study 2’ is an acrylic painting on 230gms canvas paper 20cms wide x 15cms height. It is presented in a cream card window mount with a total size of 25.5 cms x 20cms. The painting is shipped in an A4 card reinforced envelope. The painting is signed on the card mount. The weight of the shipping package is 0.10 Kgs. These small studies were made to support the composition and colour scheme of the eventual ‘Siena Fields’ canvas painting. The series of paintings to which this study belongs was inspired by locations across Europe I have visited. The paintings in this series have been made to record the atmosphere, light and colour of locations in which I have travelled across Italy, Catalonia and the Greek Islands. Siena is the capital city of the province of Siena in Tuscany. It is a town well known for its cuisine, art, museums and medieval cityscape. There are 22 years since my first visit to this wonderful location. It is a town steeped in history and art. The Siena Cathedral is central to the culture of Tuscany. There is no doubt that my experience of this town has played such a major part in my understanding of painting. The paintings in this series are based on memories of living in or visiting the locations and as such try to capture the sense of place through expressive use of colour, light, shadow and texture. Other sources which inspire these particular paintings are varied including historical and ancient signs, symbols and motifs and mythologies. Early Renaissance artists such as Fra Angelico and Simone Martini have been so important. Then there is John Hoyland, Paul Gauguin, Howard Hodgkin, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Rae, Hans Hoffman, Alan Davie, Corneille and the COBRA group all of which are indeed inspirations. 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. 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.

Materials used:

The painting is made on canvas paper with acrylic paint.