‘There is magic underfoot’

Work is made on the ground. Rucksack essentials consist of a surface to paint on, a couple of brushes, primary colours, a tube of white and a binding medium.

‘Hanging around’ in the landscape with no outcome in mind is an intentional stance. Something always occurs: the light changes, the tide turns, a particular rock formation crops up, an atmosphere shifts. Then, the work begins. Sometimes, rain serves to relax the paint and at others it removes it.

Witness to the permanent impermanence in any moment.

I paint outside, and always have done, since childhood. I come not to observe but seeking to participate in conversation with the commune of place. I respond rather than impose — seeking to express what is without prejudice.

Water-based media (watercolour, acrylic and gouache) sits comfortably within the landscape because water is the vehicle of transport throughout. Water or the absence of it determines the way material moves and comes to rest. Rain, snow, humidity participate. Wind and temperature influence drying times.

When foraging for tools and pigments I’m getting to know a place by sight, touch, smell and sound. This grows my understanding of the material and immaterial nature of where I am.

As I become part of dynamic exchange around me, between and within, linear time relaxes and rounds into cycles.

Gathering

Making palettes

If these palettes could speak, they would say: we were here and this is what we noticed.

Palette-gathering is mysterious, it continues to evolve (over 20 years). It has deepened into a divinatory practice involving an intentional shift in quality of attention. I’ve developed a holding structure to support this.

The ritual is as follows:

• Pause at a threshold (a gate, puddle or stone)
• Enter the location respectfully
• Seek permission to engage with the commune of the Place
• Cultivate porosity
• Allow
• Say thank you before leaving

The process of gathering materials and bringing together what I call ‘place palettes’ is a means of introduction to the commune of place. Curious as I forage, I meet the inhabitants; the earths and ‘stuff’ that are present at that particular time. Each location has a dialect and personality. Each visit to the same area yields a different palette.

Material expressions include both ancient and modern matter: geological samples and litter sit side by side.

Tools and swatches from the site are identified and tested in these palettes. The unconsolidated material requires a binding medium and a vehicle to make a paint or for adhesion. I employ animal protein size, acrylic emulsion, gum arabic or cherry tree gum depending on circumstance.

Sketchbooks

A space where anything can land, without judgement. An integral part of the way I ‘sense into place’.