Time Traveller. Well, I’ve been well and truly overtaken by the march of time and now find myself sat in the Kitchen, back in a reassuringly rainy Bolton, wondering if the last four weeks has all been a dream.
From a creative point of view the end of the residency was always going to feel like an unnatural juncture but now I’m home I’m already thinking of the ways I will develop this work. It’s exciting to know that there’s a chance for my experiences to settle into recurring themes more organically.

I did think that the time in the studio would dominnate my remaining two weeks and so it has been. I wanted to make some cave work while I was there and this one in particular helped, in terms of a focus on light and rock textures in other works.

 

"Underground" Oil

“Underground” Oil, 13x18cm

 

As far as the paintings themed on the mountains go, I’m encouraged with the direction of travel and some are finished but I think there’s a lot more to come. As I have time to digest the whole experience I’m certain that larger paintings will emerge which will consolidate all the threads of this exploration. I will be presenting the entire body of work on this page, hopefully soon and with a few more blogs about various subjects but for now here are a couple of the final selection that I am pleased with.

 

"Mountain Edge in Haze", Oil, 13x18cm

“Mountain Edge in Haze”, Oil, 13x18cm

 

As so many of these works seem to adopt an imagined impossible view point it seemed a fitting end to the month, to literally fly over the entire Teton range and all its canyons on the plane leaving Jackson Hole Airport, just as the sun was rising and bathing the peaks in a mesmerising golden glow.

 

"Peaks and the Rising Sun" Oil, 13x18cm

“Peaks and the Rising Sun” Oil, 13x18cm

As I arrived at Salt Lake City airport after the first leg of my journey, I became aware that I was totally unused to the hustle and bustle and slightly unnerved by the number of people in one place. I’ve sampled a lifestyle in a working town but one where the environment has such a powerful invigorating influence on it’s population that the tempo is in sync with nature.

Before and After

Before and After

I thank The Teton Art Lab and the local bodies that support it, as well as, all the other artists using the studios, they have given me much needed support, and inspiration, with the very committed approach to keeping art and artists in the town. Extending that thanks out, the people of Jackson have been consistently friendly, engaging, encouraging and entertaining in equal measure.

The endlessly beguiling West had one last surprise in store for me. I thought to change my seat on the plane leaving Las Vegas to a window position. Luckily I was on the right hand side of the plane and was treated to an aerial trip over the Grand Canyon. As if to say “you ain’t seen nothing yet!” I was transfixed. I had a notion that the month in Jackson may finalise this phase of my creative life in a perfect way. How glad I am that perhaps the seeds of another journey have been planted.