Even in the remotest areas of Northumberland there are often signs of human habitation, houses, farms, barns etc, and they always pose the question, leave them in or out? Two artists that have been influences for decades are Soutine and Cezanne, both include and exclude. In this new painting I like the idea of a small community being overshadowed by the power of the landscape. Big sky and a strong left to right diagonal moving downwards, almost as if the hill is in motion. It is more Soutine than Cezanne with a sense that the whole picture is unstable compositionally. I like the start.
Cartington. Day 1