watchful eyes

Juxtaposition

oil and graphite on board

 

It started with a fascination for the sea, as it so often does.

The transition from land to water, the waft of crushed bog myrtle to the thick fug of oak and bilge, to the opening of skies and space, the rhythm beneath your feet. Compare the solid, fixed land to the unfastened sea, the limitless expanse flowing to every curve of the planet which conjures up visions and  possibilities of adventures and journeys fuelled only by the wind and a handful of dreams.

Then cut to the very real unpredictable nature of the sea, the sudden unforgiving power, the cold cold wet, the dampened dreams.... tension and juxtaposition always present.

And with it all a support team; the sun and the stars, the beacons and lights - quiet dependable guiding angels. But the lights today are without the human element. No hearth brushes or tea kettles needed now, asbestos wicks long gone, red lead and ochre a cry from the past. No call for Japan Black. No watchful eyes.

But tides still ebb, flow and race.  Regardless of changes on land, the magic of the sea prevails and continues to inspire and energise as it always has. Where borders divide, the seas unite. Here’s to uniting.

 

 

scattered light, charcoal on paper | black and white, printed distorted and drawn into.

 

 

page from sketchbook

 

page from a

lightkeeper's logbook

Mull of Galloway

subsequently thrown on a skip

by the NLB

 

digital image | emerging, oil on canvas |digital image