The Sacred Tree

As everyone knows these are strange times. We are all experiencing 'Lock down' in different ways.  Winter is a more difficult time for many of us.  As the nights draw in I tend to 'Lock- down'... and so we have Lock-down on top of Lock-down and I do feel....a bit 'Locked in.'

 The Spring 'Lock-down' was easy for me. We live in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Everything was coming into bud. The weather was glorious and painting was flowing. I couldn't work fast enough, preparing work for my re-scheduled show at Cambridge Contemporary in the Autumn. This time around it is not so easy. I have been working on the same painting for several months now. Ruining it from time to time by applying random colours to try to move it on and wiping them off before the paint dries. I remind myself that some of my most difficult paintings turn out to be my best. That it will come right in the end. To keep going. I can’t find out what is wrong with this painting or what it needs. I go round and around in circles, destroying what should be preserved and preserving what should be destroyed.

 It is an obvious assertion that for creative people, their state of mind is reflected in their work. Feeling blocked or hemmed in is not good for my flow. I have lots of plans. The studio is set up, boards prepared. I have so many inspiring photographs and sketches to work on. I walk into the studio and feel overwhelmed. Confidence is low. I paint another layer on the difficult painting, sand it down, paint a dark green path, wipe it out. Go into the kitchen for a stiff gin at 6 pm. (I am lying about the time.)

Sharow Fields, Earth Song, Bluebell Woods,

 Instagram has provided an interesting almost obsessive pastime for me of late. Having been locked out of Facebook, (a situation no expert seems able to solve) A latecomer to the platform I feel rather behind and daunted by the spectacular number of followers many of my fellow artists enjoy.

However, I take time, enjoying the process of curation, - an educational process in itself.  I am deeply suspicious of the digital world. I think it has made things unnecessarily complicated.  However, I have been seduced by Instagram. I never would have found the top rate artists I have found had I not been on it. Looking at the work of others, helps me assess my own. There are so many talented people out there it is humbling. So humbling that occasionally the little voice 'give it up' comes into my head. Especially in these times of trying to make a living without a gallery or exhibitions.  But then there is the other voice 'never give up 'and I am reminded that each day is a brand new opportunity to really live and 'Locked down' is often only a state of mind. I remember also a line to a poem someone sent me.

 'After the darkest part of the darkest night- the light comes.'

One to remember for these times and all times and to bear in mind when struggling with the creative process. Another friend told me that creating was an act of faith. We don't know if it will work or we will get paid or people will like what we do or whether or not we will be successful. We do it because we have to. Because in creativity is hope and the ability to put some sort of order to chaos; the striving to be good and better at what we do, to impart hope, joy, beauty and comfort; to lift up the soul.

Transition - A Bahamas in North Yorkshire

Here I am sitting in transition. My current collection has gone to new homes, galleries and interior designers and I am slowly preparing to begin a new body of work.  Boards have been cut; paint ordered, studio tidied (a bit) but what will the work be about and with what will it connect?  Will it be sombre or joyous, abstract or figurative? In which ways will it be fresh, exciting and new? What will be the ideas behind it and will  I navigate brand new territory?

Spring is no problem for me creatively as I leap into life and cant stop painting. As a sun worshipper, the end of  summer makes me sad and disorientated.  The leaving of the light, the drop in temperature, the apparent dying of all things; until I start to open myself to the particular charm and beauty of Autumn.

It is necessary to dig deeper in the Autumn and Winter for me as I find myself shrinking inwards away from gloom and cold.  The migrating birds always make me envious as they seem to have the right idea and know what is to come.  But for now, when the light is bright and low, I see this season has charms of its own, as the leaves begin to turn and the structure in trees and bushes emerges.  I realise this new very different beauty and palette.

The rain falls softly outside and the sky is grey and as I long for heat and bright sun, I remember this is the time of year when I paint my abstract florals, bringing extra colour and warmth into my paintings. A sort of Bahamas in North Yorkshire. Conversely, it is the time when my landscapes reveal their bones in lines and  dark earth colours.

Watch out for the Autumn/Winter collection with its tendency towards stark contrasts of Baroque and minimalism.

Cambridge Contemporary Art Gallery

Photo credits: Zuza Grubeka

I can’t believe we are in October already. I’m so pleased my cancelled exhibition for May was re-scheduled for September. The show was a great success with paintings travelling to new homes around the country and all the way to America.

Painting Courses

Painting courses at Helmsley Walled Garden were also able to go ahead. We were so lucky every time with the weather. More courses are scheduled now for 2021 and there is a new landscape course taking place in October. To book onto this or any of the 2021 courses, see my courses page.

Bubblegum

Blue Haze

Flower Bomb

Cambridge Contemporary and Helmsley Walled Garden

 During this year of cancellations I have been lucky that it has been possible for two events to go ahead.   My exhibition at Cambridge Contemporary Gallery was moved from May to September and  is running until September 27th, showing some of my best work to date alongside quirky and beautiful ceramics by Shirley Vauvelle and luscious paintings by Sally Anne Fitter. Altogether a wonderful exhibition full of top quality work by three established  and highly individual artists.

Cambridge Contemporary Gallery Exhibition 5th-27th September

Perhaps surprisingly, although my classes were cancelled at The National Trust, the small organisation of Helmsley Walled Garden allowed painting courses to go ahead and for the first course we had the privilege of  having the gardens to ourselves when they were still closed to the public.

 As anyone will know who has visited, Helmsley Walled Garden is worth a visit.  The garden is an uplifting, calming place of solace and visual abundance. It is a perfect environment in which to teach painting and study structure, composition and colour.

 I have been wondering about these two strands of my working life. The public life of teaching and the solitary life of a plein air landscape artist who spends most of her time in the middle of a field alone and wondering how they connect. Students on painting courses each bring a gift of their own. Their own way of expressing, working with materials and unique ways of seeing things. Teaching, makes me reflect on what I do and how I do it. Looking at structure with others makes me look with fresh eyes.

Flower Power Watercolour and Mixed Media
Helmsley Walled Garden 19th-20th September 2020

For those who would like to experiment with different ways of working with Watercolour, including inks, gouache, pencil and oil pastel. The emphasis is on experimentation. 

For details and booking, please see my courses page 

Participants at the Helmsley Walled Garden painting workshops

Where the Owls roost

Owls can vocalize at a low frequency which allows their songs to travel long distances without being absorbed by vegetation. This would be a useful ability for us in Lockdown. While we have been relying increasingly on technology to communicate and keep society functioning, the natural world has been going on as it always has. In Spring I enjoyed recording the plant world opening up as I painted outside, Plein air, recording British landscape at its best.

English Spring

Lockdown has given birth to some new creative ideas. One is my 'Little Darlings' series of mini paintings. The creative thinking behind these is to paint petite florals which include as much mark making, layering and experimentation with colour as is possible on a small canvas. Produced over a period of several weeks they are rich unique little jewels and very affordable.

The Little Darlings collection

The lack of working to deadlines is tricky. Bursts of creativity are interspersed with periods of sloth and inertia. However, I have done things I usually wouldn't have time to do such as sort out the ancient chaos of my Mosaic store boxes. I tried to give the boxes of china away but this proved more difficult than I would have thought. Sorting through all the old plates, saucers and bowls got me inspired again and I now have a brand new Mosaic Studio. New creations include New Baby Bird Mosaics - a special present to give on the arrival of a new baby. Each one a unique special gift that will last a lifetime. Vegetation Mosaics are designed to make your outdoor space pretty and are still at the design phase - but watch the website.

Mosaic work in progress

Photographs by Sarah Banks www.sarahbanksphoto.com

So here we are eight weeks into Lockdown. This is a weird experience for everyone. Exhibitions and shows and teaching all cancelled.

The good news is it is Spring and I live in the middle of new growth. Every day from hour to hour the landscape changes. From early Spring to the beginning of Summer I have been recording the English countryside. It is difficult to do it justice. But I try. Sitting in the middle of a wood painting the freshly ploughed earth in the distance and the bluebells by my feet. Watching the trees transform from their sculptural naked forms to fresh greens and yellows.

Sometimes, especially in times like these, I feel spoilt and privileged to be out in the air and surrounded by beauty. Isolation is normal for me. But something is amiss. I am missing my audience. The people I paint for. So here is a little taste of what I've been doing. I am looking forward to sharing this new work with you. Either at Cambridge Contemporary in September (fingers crossed) or Art 4 Youth in October or York Open Studios 2021.

Ripe Corn Before the Storm

Recently I was required to write an Artist Statement and Biography. This was a difficult task as writing requires a different part of my brain from painting. Nevertheless it was an opportunity to consider what my work is really about, who it is for, what inspires it and whether there is any point to it.

Although all my work begins 'in the field' with observation, 'painting what I see', I realise that it quickly becomes, 'how what I see makes me feel'. How trees and hills and furrow sit together in the language of light and dark. I am interested in the significance of place. This might be somewhere well known such as Ripon Cathedral or the White Horse or a random field or view in which the way things are placed in the landscape makes it out of the ordinary.

As an Art student at York College I specialised in sculpture and I think this looking for shapes, their juxtaposition and contrast, is apparent in my paintings. All paintings begin with observation of what I see and most are painted out in the field- en plein air, but at a certain point the painting takes over and I become interested in pattern, mark making, colour and texture as vehicles of expanding what I see. The work becomes intuitive. In this way, 'my work becomes a hybrid between the observed and imagined, the seen and felt.'

I seek to record a moment in time. A landscape that will change not only with the seasons but with the passing years.

2019 has been quite a year. Being Artist in Residence at the Yorkshire Arboretum on the Castle Howard Estate was a wonderful privilege and helped produce some of my best work to date. It is easy to see how The Yorkshire Arboretum is twinned with Kew, as trees and avenues, hidden spaces and gardens within gardens reveal themselves - constantly changing colour and form throughout the seasons. The physical conditions were challenging as I had to transport materials a long way in all weathers but it is a special experience to paint landscape in situ. Something of the essence of place is recorded and painting on Birch ply seemed a fitting material to record the many languages of trees.

The year finished with a solo exhibition at Helmsley Arts Centre which was the first place I exhibited twenty four years ago. So it was a rather lovely, cosy 'Coming Home.'

I have already begun my new collection for an exhibition with Sally Anne Fitter at Cambridge Contemporary Gallery in May 2020. This should be a very lively, rich exhibition and an interesting combination between one of my favourite contemporary artists and myself. Exciting new painting courses are planned for the New Year too; A 'Watercolour with a difference' Still Life course at Helmsley Walled Garden and two Landscape painting courses in the Water Gardens at Studley Royal, Fountains Abbey.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in 2019. I am looking forward to sharing some exciting new work with you in 2020. There are some (still secret) projects planned using cutting edge technology (which is something for a technophobe). You might be able to 'walk through' my paintings some time soon...watch this space...