Orange Light

Richard Blades | Gouache on Paper | 6.5 x 7 inches

“My paintings are inspired by the walks and journeys I take along the coastline and footpaths of North Norfolk, where I live and work. Early mornings and late evenings provide the light and atmosphere that I am most interested in, those fluid and poetic moments between day and night, where the contrasts are most apparent, and the clouds and forms feel enchanted.

 As much as my work is about the direct experiences I have in the landscape, I am also inspired by Art history, and particularly the Romantic tradition of landscape painting. From Constable and Turner to Seago and Samuel Palmer, this visual language and the feeling of a dialogue with the past is important to me. 

 I use texture in my work as a way of representing this sense of history, that the surface of the painting is something that shows its making and depth. Just as the landscape and coastline are marked and formed by the natural and man-made representations of its creation.

 Born on the border of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, I have travelled widely and lived in many different places. I returned to East Anglia after living and working in Cornwall, Devon and London. This return was based on many years of longing for the skies and light of the East Coast and that sense of longing has become a major theme in my work.

 I am both a studio and plein air painter. The works in this exhibition were created in the studio but are based on the numerous sketches and memories I gather on my long walks and meditations on the landscape. They are non-sight-specific in that sense, they represent the essence of my connection to the land, sea and sky. The coastline and horizons of Norfolk, from the Wash to the wild North Sea beaches, all find their place within the work. 

 I work with both Oil and Gouache and the paintings in the exhibition are Oil. My techniques vary but I usually start my work on a highly textured surface, that I prepare myself. The surface is also very absorbent so I’m able to build layers of oil paint very quickly, whether through using a palette knife or dry brush scumbling.” Richard