This painting
was made in 2004, in Grandcamp-
Maisy, Normandy, a fishing town in an area often visited as
a site of the D-Day landings.
The buildings and landscape are austere and the coastline is
sodden with a sense of lives lost.
I chose 'The Sea' view for the sweep and contrast between the
tangled houses, and their proximity to the wide green sea, and
the black jetty.
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When
I started to paint the tide was high. By the afternoon the sea
was out and dozens of tiny figures were collecting mussels.
The
swimmers' raft which had been rocking on the waves was settled
on the sand and the grab handles atop the pole were now out
of reach - its seaweed covered length showed how deep the water
had been.
The wind blew the sand into my paint.
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In
Normandy I found a new way of working which combined my painting
and drawing, inspired by the juxtaposition of the broad breathing
space of the sea and the crowded houses on the shoreline.
Since then I have been attracted to scenes where I can relate
man-made to natural elements. I am working in the same extended
landscape format, which encompasses the turn of the head through
240 degrees. |
