Contemporary Landscape and Seascape Paintings
Based in Elphin in the North West Highlands of Scotland, with work exhibited in galleries throughout Scotland. The primary focus centres on land and seascapes.
Several threads run through the work in addition to reflecting on the image and reference point in whatever has been chosen to paint.
The central interest lies in the passage of time and the perception that in looking at a landscape, certain things seem transient, fleeting, and elusive, alive almost. With tides, splashes, breaking waves, and angry waters, the aim is to catch a moment, to imagine that moment is all the time available, a life in a millisecond, and to find, save, and preserve forms and structures in the movement.
In pieces based on the seemingly unchanging, immovable rocks and mountains, evidence of movement and change becomes the focus. A sense exists that they have a life on a larger scale and over unimaginable time frames. The objective is to combine the seemingly ageless with the more ephemeral to reflect the true character of the landscape.
The physical method of working on the paintings reflects this philosophy. Paper and paint are added, sections washed off, and surfaces sanded back time after time until the composition settles. Elements of controlled experiment and accident are present in order to move technique forward. Some pieces never reach completion, but the process remains entirely valuable. There is a continuous quest to see or feel things as before knowing what everything was, returning to a time when everything felt connected and the world seemed full of possibilities.
The work has sometimes been described as having an otherworldly quality, which is partly the core objective. Reference points often turn to memories of early childhood at Hynish on Tiree, playing and exploring the shoreline, attaching meaning and a story to everything found or seen:
- Submerged ominous rocks rumbling and booming.
- Hairy seaweed monsters breathing under the tide.
- The feeling of playing outside for so long in the cold rain, sleet, and howling wind that the rock pools feel warm and safe.
- Half understood words, stories, and songs about lost cities under the sea, kelpies, and child stealing fairies. Ominous thoughts on even the sunniest of days.
Bio
Early childhood was spent on Tiree and, after a spell in Kansas, relocation followed to Kingussie in the Highlands. Formal studies were completed at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating with a degree in sculpture in 1995. Since graduation, drawing and painting have continued, travelling around the West Highlands and Islands of Scotland to collect source material and sketches which are then worked up into larger pieces in the Elphin studio. In recent years, time has been spent on St Kilda alongside opportunities to explore the south coast of Iceland. Current work focuses on pieces based on the north west coast of Scotland around the home and studio in Elphin.
Links and articles
Scotsman Article Roger Cox May 26 Northwest
Landscape forge of the far north
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