 I have just finished my most recent painting. Once it's dry it will be off to the framers and then to the John Russell gallery (www.thejohnrussellgallery.co.uk ) to be included in my exhibition ( running from Monday 28th October until Saturday 23rd November 2013 ).
The title is 'Going West'. It is based on a photograph that I took whilst heading to London along the A11, in an area that is being widened to improve the road. I have a clear memory of stopping, and sitting in the car, near these trees when I was a child...we were on the way home from a holiday I think, and stopped to break up the journey. As we sat there eating sandwiches, and drinking tea from a thermos, I realised that if I looked out of one eye only, and then the other eye only, the colours differed depending on which eye I used. I kept looking out of one eye, and then the other, and thought about the different colours, and realised therefore, that the view I was seeing couldn't have an actual defined colour...the colour was defined by how it was viewed. And this is the first time that I realised that this must also be true for everything...not just colours, or scenery...but everything. I realised that nothing is 'set in stone', and nothing has a set definition. Everything changes depending on how it is perceived. I remember sitting there in the car with my parents and my sister, on the way back from our holiday, and thinking that from now on I knew that 'everything is nothing' yet 'everything can be anything'. So these trees mean a lot to me, as they showed me that there are no 'correct' ways of seeing things, and that each person brings to everything their own views and perceptions...and as a child this was a wonderful realisation as it meant that my opinions were therefore just as valid as everyone else's. It felt very freeing to realise this as a child, and it still keeps me going even now, not just with my painting but in everyday life...whenever I find myself wondering or worrying about what other people think of what I paint or what I do, I can think of the trees and their changing colours... Comments are closed.
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