Sketches

The most important part of sketching in the field begins long before the first marks are made. Making a sketch is the end result of an experience of being open to possibilities. For me, preparations for the sketch begin with walking , sometimes writing , but always looking and reading the landscape with all the senses engaged. As my mind becomes focussed on connecting with the light, atmosphere, and colour around me, in retrospect, I am aware of a change in consciousness in which time and personal identity are forgotten.

At some point in this open stream of awareness a subject will emerge. Suddenly I perceive something deeper than the surface . At that particular moment what I see and feel is something which will I will never be see again. This vision is wholly new, alive and speaks with its own voice and distinctive energy. What was outside is now reflected inward in a fusion of self, time and space.

I begin a sketch by drawing in large masses of colour and tone without a preparatory line drawing. The hand is guided by the particular energy of the concept. The bigger the inspiration, the deeper the concentration, the better the result.

I start to layer colour on colour, reaching for that chord of colour which unifies the subject. Forms emerge as warm, cool, light or dark, large and small values are introduced, considered, altered and shifted into place. Creating an image is an unpredictable process . The pathway forward is found in the alchemy of the materials as different pigments create new relationships which are as much a product of searching and spontaneity than certainty.

A finished sketch is never as large or luminous; never as satisfying as the experience which inspired it. Rather, it is a visual haiku reflecting a moment in time- perfect in its imperfection. I consider my best sketches to be those which have the capacity to surprise me and open up new ways of understanding these encounters with landscape. To me they are simple gifts which never stop giving.