Why do I paint landscapes?

When I was at the recent Surrey Artists’ Open Studios event I was lucky enough to meet Esther Evans. Esther is a creator of beautiful, emotive films and photography, and she suggested that we work together to make a short film about my work - specifically about the “why” behind it. This was a slightly daunting idea, as I’m definitely more of a behind-the-camera type of person, but I felt I couldn’t refuse such a wonderful opportunity. I also realised that over the years I have spent a lot of time thinking about this question, but that I rarely, if ever, have communicated it. Esther’s proposal not only offered me an exciting opportunity to potentially tell this story, but it also made me think that perhaps people would like to hear it. So here, in parallel to the film, are my reasons “why?”...

Childhood connections

For me landscape painting is rooted in a deep love of nature and the natural world, which has developed and grown through my entire life. My father’s family have been farmers for several generations, and I suppose that perhaps a connection to nature is, thus, partly in my blood. Traditional farmers needed to be in tune with nature and the changing seasons, and to operate in harmony with the land that they worked. When I was a child, the family home was often a place of discord and disharmony, but out in the fields surrounding the house, I could lose myself in nature. I could feel free and happy.

In my life now, nature still fulfils many important roles for me.

Nature as healer

Sometimes I can be prone to anxiety and low mood, but when I am alone with nature I can absorb myself in the landscape and those worries can be still. From the perspective of mindfulness teaching, nature is a wonderful place to just be - in the moment, drinking in the sensations that nature affords us.

I find that being within the landscape and connecting with nature can be very healing and comforting.

Connection

Being within the landscape offers me an opportunity to slow down. There is so much rushing in life. Demands to be here, be there. Endless to-do lists. Technology offers us many benefits, but it also puts us into an artificial zone, weakening our connections with the natural world, and also arguably diminishing our connections with each other. For me the landscape is a place to stop and wonder. To reconnect with the wonderful flow of energy that exists within the natural work. A flow of energy that I believe can connect us all. I am not an expert on Native American culture, but the idea of connection between all living beings is one that resonates with me. To quote N. Scott Momaday:

“...you touch the pulse of the living planet; you feel it’s breath upon you. You become one with a spirit that pervades geological time and space.”

 For me, the landscape is a place to connect and reconnect - it is a place to feel free and alive.

Nature as comforter

I find that nature can be a great source of comfort and solace. Quietly repeating rhythms and cycles offer a sense of constancy. I have always appreciated this, but even more so during 2020, the year of Corona and the dreaded lockdown. The human world during recent times has felt uncontrollable, changing in ways we never thought possible. I have taken great comfort during these difficult times immersing myself in nature and watching the rhythms of the natural world quietly continue.

Of course, sometimes, nature may offer a less benevolent environment - sometimes nature can serve to challenge and test me. I may be whipped by the rain and wind; I may lose the feeling in my fingers when trying to sketch on a frozen day - but these challenging interactions I find ultimately serve to rally my spirit and lift me.

Permanence, Transience & Loss

Nature is of course continually changing. Season by season, day by day, moment by moment. However, I also find the landscape can offer a sense of stability and permanence. I seek out places that are as untouched by human hand as possible. Places that have remained unchanged for generations. Wild and unspoilt. 

Nature and the landscapes I love may be constant and stable to a degree, but transience and loss are part of life. In my relationship with the landscape I am wanting to savour each moment of beauty as each is totally unique, it will never be repeated, and each moment inevitably will pass.

In these times of dramatic climate change, the landscapes that I love feel more fragile, more vulnerable, less stable. It feels even more important now to notice the beauty around us; to really see it; to value and celebrate it. I try to do all of these things in my own small way through my art, and I hope that perhaps my art may encourage others to do the same.

So, this is why I paint the landscapes that I love...

I paint to express my love of and connection with the landscape.

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Through my art I am attempting to express my love of the landscape in several ways. I am trying to express what the landscape means to me and seeking to convey and celebrate the feeling of connection I have with the natural world.

I am trying to record something of the beauty that is here around us now as best I can. If my art can help others to stop and to notice the beauty of nature and to feel it’s power, perhaps it can help them to connect with nature too? If we open our hearts and connect with nature, allow it to become a part of ourselves, perhaps we will all care about it more and will value and protect it more?

I am trying to capture the fleeting moments of beauty that are all around us. Recording something of how it felt to be in those moments, before they slipped away.

I am seeking to celebrate the immense energy and vitality within the natural world that I believe has the power to transform and to connect us all.

The film...

I am sure that Esther’s film will encapsulate in a few minutes the heart of what I have been trying to express here. I will be sharing the film soon, and encourage you to look up Esther’s work as she is undoubtedly a very talented visual story teller (www.estherevans.com).

A few weeks ago I had never made a film. Today is the first time I’ve ever written a blog. I don’t know if anyone will read it, but meeting Esther made me think it could be good to reach out and communicate more about my art.

I leave you with a second quote from N. Scott Momaday, prize winning author and novelist, that resonates deeply with me:

“I love the land; I see that it is beautiful; I delight in it; I am alive in it.”

If you would like to hear more news from my studio, please sign up to my mailing list below. And, if you would like to comment on this blog, please do get in touch - I’d love to hear from you!