PRACTICAL MIXED MEDIA
Experimentation and timehonoured practice with different media are key to gaining knowledge and personal development as a creative artist. Successes are not just measured in sales or notoriety but by what you know, how broad your creative spectrum is and how enriching that is to yourself and to others. As a teacher, I am in continual pursuit of creative knowledge through practice to pass on to others to help develop their creative journeys too.
There isn't a recognised style in my work, I don't believe. Degas, one of my all-time favourite artists, is quoted as having said: ‘I'm glad I haven't found my style yet. I'd be bored to death.’ I'll go with that! The paintings I have been creating recently and share with you in this article, are a select few from an ongoing series of paintings I continually return to. In creativity they combine much of what I have learned using different media over several decades, including photography, digital art, drawing, painting, printmaking and computer-generated imagery.
Above all, connectionhistorical elements in this series of paintings is key. I'm calling them my Mystic Moors series. Taking influence from the moors, the south Pennines in particular, the mixed-media paintings are a rich visual interpretation of this wide expanse of territory in the north of England. Throughout my life I've walked, visited and explored this vast, fascinating area – the backbone of Britain. I have my favourite places but don't stick to them. By discovering new areas through physical exploration, these experiences are complementary to my creative practice. Areas visited are sketched, painted, photographed and remembered.
