Groundwork

Everything in Standing Ground begins here, outside, with my feet on the ground. These are the drawings and paintings I make en plein air, on the estuary at low tide, along the open coast, and up on the moor, often with the wind pulling at the paper and the light changing faster than I can follow. There’s no time to overthink. I’m responding to what’s in front of me: the pull of the water, the shape of a headland, the weather moving in. Some of these pieces are quick and urgent, others slower and more considered, but all of them hold something of the moment they were made. They’re where the larger paintings take root, and I love them for their honesty.