SURFACE
A series of paintings celebrating the rich detail, texture and pattern found in natural habitats. I am interested in how these elements combine to make an aesthetic unique to each ecosystem. Despite the complexity and abundance, we tend to experience a sense of calm and restoration in such places; they seem to offer space for reflection. Natural colours found in the reserves help to unify the busy mark making and build the character and narrative, capturing the emotional quality we experience when connecting with nature; whether a sense of unwinding, curiosity or energy. Scumbled layers are built up to reveal depth and texture, movement and light.
Sphagnum and Sundew
Kirkconnell Flow
Gouache on watercolour paper
30x40cm
Across the dome at Kirkconnell Flow are patches of vivid scarlet and lime-green sphagnum moss, strewn with leaves, sticks, tiny pink dots of creeping bog-cranberry and the curious forms of sundew plants – an explosion of colour!
Undergrowth
Kirkconnell Flow
Oil on oil paper
50x65cm
Small tracks wind between the froth of summer growth, fluffy cottongrass and tangled sticks. Sun-bleached peat fades the colour of drying plaster and Scots pines scent the air with sweet warm woodiness.
Into the Trees
Kirkconnell Flow
Gouache on watercolour paper
30x40cm
Looking across the Flow towards the fringe of trees, a mosaic of peat, purple moor-grass, beds of bright sphagnum moss and the white tufts of cotton-grass make interesting patterns and textures.
Islands and Light
Rockcliffe
Gouache on watercolour paper
30x40cm
At low tide, the Urr Estuary glints and sparkles as shallow pools of water skim across the ridged sand of the sea bed, reflecting pink and orange skies.
Sphagnum and Peat
Kirkconnell Flow
Oil on board
20×24 inches (≈51x61cm)
Seams of yellow and purple sphagnum moss build layer upon layer to make fantastic patterns on the peat surface. Sun-bleached silvery sticks and threads of bog-cranberry criss-cross and scatter the surface.
Reindeer Lichen and Heather
Kirkconnell Flow
Oil on board
20×24 inches (≈51x61cm)
Threads of pale celadon-blue reindeer lichen cling to dried heather, forming springy mounds which contrast with the winter-brown shades of the Flow.
Kirkconnell Flow
Oil on board
20×24 inches (≈51x61cm)
Summer on the Flow; the air blurs and smooths through a heat haze, swathes of cotton-grass vibrate gently in the breeze beneath the glowing emerald greens of birch woodland.
Surface
Kirkconnell Flow
Oil on board
12×16 inches (≈31x41cm)
The soft-brushed land opens out, purple brown and orange flecked. Layers of peat, roots, sticks and sphagnum make a dense woven mat. Scattered dots of faded pink heather and drifts of cottongrass dance like fireflies above the Flow.
Cottongrass and Peat
Kirkconnell Flow
Oil on board
9×11 inches (≈23x28cm)
Summer on the Flow, hazy skies, warm peat and greening ground give a calm, solid feel, broken only by the bobbing, dancing seed heads of cottongrass catching the small eddies of airflow, their silky tufts glinting in the sunlight. An emerald glow from the forest fringe beckons towards the cooler interior.
Druid Loch
Oil on board
20×24 inches (≈61x51cm)
August light casts reflections on the loch surface. Huge, sweeping trees reach out, far over the waters edge, skimming the pink-tinged mass of lily pads.