I was driving through the Vale of York one day when I pulled over to watch a storm approaching. The sky was spectacular, changing from a clear blue to a deep purple, rolling mass of clouds. The colours and textures were extraordinary and it felt as though my eyes had been opened. Every day since then I take time to watch the sky.
The sky is a continuous moving piece of art to me. People miss what’s going on above their heads as they rush round their busy lives. I want to draw their attention to the beauty and drama going on right above them.
I believe part of an artist’s job is to bring to our notice instances of beauty in the world around us.
I work in a variety of media but have chosen oils for this collection to express the layering and texture of the skies.
The technique involves applying several layers of oil colour in varying thicknesses to suggest the luminescence of the sky. I enjoy showing the light and its effect on the surrounding clouds but not the sun itself; I try to capture the moment of stillness in a sky that is just about to change.
Giclee (pronounced “zhee-clay”) prints are printed reproductions of artworks. Giclee printing uses fade-resistant, archival inks and archival paper. The special inkjet printers that are used have multiple cartridges for variations of each colour to increase the colour range and allowing smoother gradient transitions. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans. This means that the reproduction is as close to the original as possible in terms of colour and resolution and produces a far better quality copy than other forms of reproduction. The quality of the giclee print rivals traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes and is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries.
The paintings are on stretched canvases over a box frame and the painting is continued onto the edges so that they can be displayed without frames.
Yorkshire Skies 1 to 7 measure 50cm x 50cm x 4cm.
Yorkshire Skies 8, 9 and 10 measure 1 metre x 1 metre.
