I’ve spent a lot of my life around water. Recently, I spent several years sailing to many countries, eventually returning to the UK and building my studio in Malvern. Here are some of the results.
Sailing solo at night is a wondrous experience. Here I’ve attempted to bring some of this feeling to others. Mainly palette knife and various implements to blend the oil on the canvas, concentrating on texture, rather than any detail – which is how it is in reality, at night.
When I first saw the boat I now have, in Tewkesbury, it was a filthy day in Winter. This is looking out over the weir by the mill. Oil on canvas, no brush involved, just a palette knife.
Looking over the side of the boat, when sailing on a large and boisterous sea, the water is seldom blue or green, but ocassionally is both. If you’re lucky, there’s a shadow of a dolphin streaking through to play in the waves coming off the bow. I used a rubber bowl scraper from the kitchen to move the oil.
Oil on canvas following a trip to Venice. It was mainly raining and cold, despite the Spring, and I’ve tried to evoke how I felt, away from the tourists, walking and observing.
John Simnett 