Welcome to our Blog at Cry of the Gulls.

Julians’ Review number Three

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Is Painting Dead?

With the invention of photography in the mid 19^th Century came the assertion from many that “Painting is Dead” yet 200 years later, despite many artists, critics and commentators attempts to prove that painting really is dead, all forms of painting, landscape paintings included still attracts significant interest and critical acclaim and provides great enjoyment for both the general public and for the many painters currently engaged in the art of making paintings.

There are of course many reasons that painting is still alive and well, enjoyed and valued. Ours is a society increasingly involved with and surrounded by ‘high tech systems’ we are used to receiving our images in “High Definition” and at high speed via Television, Cinema, our computer screen and now even our on our mobile phone (or should that be mobile device?). Yet despite this highly technical visual culture, where any evidence of ‘making’ or  ‘human endeavour’ is rendered invisible, so that we ‘almost believe’ the imagery we are looking at on screen is generated by the technology itself, we still love to marvel at the ‘hand-madeness’ of a well made, beautifully composed, expressive painting. Ours may be a culture that is ‘knowledge’ driven but, I believe, we still admire skill and manual dexterity in others especially those skills that can be described as belonging to a gifted elite. Art, alongside acting, sport and medicine is, I think, one of those areas that society still attributes a high level of mystique to. Artists are reckoned to have special powers, to be blessed with almost magical abilities, abilities that have been assigned to them from birth. Whilst I am not one to dispel this mythology, I am keen to share the sheer dedication and hard work that it takes to be a successful artist.

The two landscape painters whose work I am drawing your attention to in this short article do not hide their hard work from the viewer, these two artists are preeminent examples of exactly what hard work it takes to be successful in the world of art. They have both, in their different ways, devoted their whole adult lives to the pursuit of their chosen profession.

Michael Strang has been painting for the past 40 years. He paints most days. Whilst he is a passionate, emotional painter he also a clever artist painting with his intellect as well as his practiced practical skills. He has devoted his life not only to making his own art; he has also undertaken extensive study into the work of other artists. Painters both historical and contemporary interest him and have influenced his own work. His work references many artists including; Constable, Van Gough, and equally contemporary greats such as Gerhard Richter.

Michael works in oil on canvas or board. He paints all aspects of his life, so he is equally enthralled by still life, portraiture or the landscape. It is perhaps for his Cornish Coastal landscapes that he best known. Michaels’ landscapes are, typically, developed by working directly in the landscape on location in all weather, all seasons and all times of day and night. He will often leave his Gulval studio before dawn, with pre-cut boards and his paints and brushes, to paint an area of the coast as the sun rises. These paintings are produced rapidly so as to capture a moment as the sun is emerging and the light, colours, tones are all changing constantly, he will paint many small studies. The paint is applied as it comes direct from the tube – thickly (impasto), usually using a brush but sometimes with a palette knife. These ‘direct observation’ paintings are the way that Michael has, over the past 40 years, built his deep understanding of the landscape that he loves. He records glimpses, presenting us with images of brief moments in time, not as a camera captures or freezes a moment but as the eye and brain does, making sense of the world we live in by processing each glimpse to develop a time based narrative. Later in his studio Michael works from these direct observation paintings and his memory to develop to produce his monumental paintings many of which he will work on for months sometimes years.

Many of the paintings that we show at Cry of the Gulls are made on location, we love the energy and exuberance, the passion and commitment and their deep honesty, and so it seems do you. Painting, thanks to artists such as Michael is still very much alive and thriving.

Amanda Hoskin also develops her work from direct observation and experience. She is best known for her coastal landscape paintings, particularly of her native Cornwall. She is a very keen – perhaps even a great walker, she has walked the whole Cornish coat path (some parts many, many times), has zig zagged across the interior of Cornwall, crossed its moors and delved into its many beautiful woodlands and gardens. This is what she need to do to make her art come to life. The walks invigorate her and in turn she places that vitality into her paintings. Amanda does not make her final pieces ‘on location’ they are developed in the quiet peacefulness of her studio. She is however, a great sketchbook compiler. She has amassed a huge collection of drawings and small paintings in may books from her many walks. In her sketchbooks, in written notes as well as drawings, she refers to the light, weather, temperature, atmosphere and often her mood. Walking she says is of great importance to her, it is not just something she does for work, it is something that she feels compelled to do. It clears her mind and prepares her for the time she will later spend in the studio.

In addition to the sketches Amanda makes during her walks she also compiles ‘journals’ of particular places, routes or seasons. They are further evidence that her ‘journey’ to make each finished piece is a long and time consuming as the walk itself. But these are necessary preparations where the mind is synthesising all the experiences to form a composite, coherent whole. Like Michael Strang what we see in an Amanda Hoskin painting is a glimpse or rather a series of glimpses, from many walks, amounting to hundreds of miles and hours spent in her beloved landscape.

Looking at an Amanda Hoskin landscape people are often intrigued by the way she is able to describe the light, especially light reflected on the sea. Amanda puts this down to her many years spent sailing and, indeed, instructing. Sailing is weather dependant and the sky and its visual effects on the water are good indicators to help the sailor forecast weather conditions. You can easily see her understanding of the weather by the way she paints sky and water. Her skies are never unrealistically blue, nor are they ever too sunny, she does not shy away from heavy leaden skies full of immanent rain, patches of brilliant light become indicators of a bright future. In order to emphasis the drama in the landscape Amanda keeps the composition simple. What becomes complex is her use of colour and tone. In some of her smallest paintings it seems that we could walk or sail for hours before we disappear over the horizon.

And finally, for now, it would be foolish not to mention the way that Amanda Hoskin has documented the wild flowers of the Cornish Hedgerow. These are usually painted in a series of flicks, dribbles and dabs. Look closely and you could easily be looking at the surface of a Jackson Pollock dribble painting. The colour and tone are always precise and in combination they become a shimmering field of flowers. So realistic, almost photographic, its almost as if you can smell the flowers, hear the breeze, see the gentle movement as you walk steadily by.

I hope you enjoy looking at these two artists work as much as we do. To see them close up and in the flesh – pop into our gallery as soon as possible.

Julian’s Review Number Two

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Up The Creek – Oil on Board by Keith Bunt

This is a jewel of a painting, it is tiny (6.5cm X 8.5cm) yet it is packed with depth and visual interest. For me this painting proves that “bigger is not always better” and that, often, “less is more”.

Keith is a ‘local artist, born here, he has lived his whole life in the Fowey area. He is also ‘local’ in what he chooses to paint, being well known for his paintings of the estuary, St Austell Bay and the Fowey River. However, interest in paintings by Keith is not just local, he has collectors throughout the UK and beyond which is testament to the quality of his work. He is a ‘painterly’ artist, with a deft touch and the ability to apply paint with assurance, skill and ingenuity. Even on such a small surface, it is worth getting ‘up close’ and really observing how the paint has been applied.

This beautiful painting is a good example of what Keith does best. In this composition he demonstrates clearly his ability to interpret a complex view in a simple way without loss of visual interest or impact. His palette is simple, predominantly monochromatic blues with the subtle addition of some red and yellow to add depth in the sky. Look at the top left corner and you will notice the blue becomes slightly warmer with the addition of red and then towards the horizon yellow is added to the blue casting a hint of green, those two additions create significant depth to the sky and provide a perspective which otherwise would not exist in this painting. The ‘hint’ of red and yellow in the sky is then carefully echoed in the centre foreground of the composition with tiny dabs of red and yellow to indicate sails and bouys which, against the pale blue of the water create the focal point for this picture. This is the focus of the composition, the part that your eye is drawn to and returns to. This focus is achieved by the tonal contrast, colour and the strong brush strokes.

In essence the picture is created by a series of horizontal strokes, two darker, converging, diagonal strokes which define the entrance to Pont Pill and a series of small fine dabs of contrasting colour. Simple yet complex, a distillation of a busy landscape through the careful and thoughtful selection of a what is essential from a broad visual vocabulary. In essence this is visual equivalent of a poem.

 I do hope you enjoy looking at the paintings on our website and reading my blog. I also hope you have a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a creative and fun filled New Year.

12 Days of Christmas from Cry of the Gulls

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

On the Twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me;

12 Dilly Dally Daisys

http://bit.ly/uA8O3x

11 Perpetual Postcard Calendars

http://bit.ly/vS2C1M

10 Labradors Leaping

http://bit.ly/u1mDjb

9 Ladies Paintings’

http://bit.ly/w3bWo9

8 Milk Jugs Pouring

http://bit.ly/rq28OX

7 Silver Studs Sparkling

http://bit.ly/uiP9Tk

6 Sea Birds Flying

http://bit.ly/w27YbH

5 GOLD RINGS

http://bit.ly/tRf5zK.

4 Bird Earrings

http://bit.ly/volest

Black Hammer 3

http://bit.ly/vTnW3Q

2 Purple Earings

http://bit.ly/uLL6zW

And a Chicken Doorstop sitting on the floor

http://bit.ly/u3oaL2

Well it sort of worked?

Julian’s review

Monday, November 28th, 2011

This is a start of a regular feature of the blog that will be a review of a particular painting by Julian. His first one is of a painting by Dawn Stacey

Crimson Light Falling Over Polruan by Dawn Stacey

To those of you familiar with the work of Dawn Stacey, this “tapestry” like composition will come as no surprise. I think of her paintings (which are technically a combination of painting, printing, collage and stenciling) as ‘Tapestries’ because of the way they describe places and events in a strongly pictorial rather than literal way.

Dawns training in textiles and sequential design is evident in all her work. It is there in the way she places the emphasis on pattern and surface and puts pictorial space above perspective. It is also present in the way she uses the placement of colour and texture, her use of layer upon layer of small images which are revealed on the surface of the canvas. This is made visually exciting through the wide variety of materials and techniques she employs to create each layer.

If you are looking at this work for the first time on the website its worth using the magnification tool to explore its surface in detail. Take time and look at each area. The composition looks simple but it is made up of many complex parts. In anyone elses hands the result could be a disaster. Dawn has the ability to manage the myriad parts in such a way that the outcome is kaleidoscopic rather than catastrophic.

Beyond the obvious abstraction in her work Dawn exploits a ‘naive realism’ to provide a strong narrative content which is always present through her quirky observations and implicit story telling. In this work the story begins to form in your imagination as soon as you hear the title, Crimson Light Falling Over Polruan. Those words take you instantly to a warm summer evening, the sun dipping low, the boat yard clangor falling silent leaving only the chug chug of the Polruan Ferry transporting passengers  back and forth from Fowey Town Quay. Happy Days.

In this painting there are many recognizable motifs that belong to Polrun and the Fowey Estuary. Waterfront houses glimpsed from the river, the recurring flag of St. Piran, that iconic terrace of houses always visible on the skyline and those three ships sailing by (how very seasonal). The steepness of Polruan is clearly indicated by the use of a regular patchwork of pale blue, white and crimson showing the zig zag path. This represents the journey from the Lugger on the Quay to the breathless skyline above the town and beyond until you are standing above Lantic Bay taking in the vast sweep of the bay and the headlands to the east and west of Polruan. That is the magic. That is art, and its all in one small painting: a tapestry of delights.