About my work -
my ideas, technique and structure

Having been fortunate to have lived in the Snowdonia National Park for many years and now in North Norfolk near its wild coastline I have always been interested in the relationship between the three most inspiring natural elements found in both areas - water, land and ever changing light. I have tried to capture them, not by true representation, but in a personal way, showing emotions and recollections deep within me of how I see these unique areas. Some paintings represent close detail whilst others a wider sense of landscape, but all, I hope, challenge the viewer to put their own interpretation on each painting, making it personal to the individual whilst making them more aware of their surroundings.

Everyone witnesses the combination of these three elements at some time or other, but it is only when you really concentrate on a small area that you notice the intense colours, patterns and textures that form when those three elements meet at a special 'moment' in time. That 'moment' may only last a second or two. Some of these 'moments' may be filled with motion and exhilaration, others very calming. It is those 'moments' which I wanted to capture.

To capture these 'moments' colour has been built up using many layers of transparent pigment which gives depth and luminosity. In addition, neat or mixed interference medium which reflects light and colour has been used so that the painting changes subtly when viewed from different angles, or flashes of colour appear depending on how the paint has been applied. These colours have also been 'saturated' in some cases to emphasise those that do actually exist but are missed when casually observed.

Base texture has also been applied in several layers using acrylic pastes with clear acrylic gels (previously resin) poured, splashed, textured or inter layered with paint which also reflects light from different angles to create the illusion of 'being there' at that special 'moment'.

Each painting is built up over a solid base or 'ground' to give stability for the layering techniques, which also gives the face of each painting a textured uneven surface and a sculptural quality. They are therefore designed to be hung unframed as they appear on this web site. It should also be noted that these painting are heavy (approx 12kg/600mm sq) compared to conventional paintings of a similar size.

For further information email:

info4@turton-artist.com