sea notes: striations of agitated sand[banks] beneath the sea's surface, a thin tapering line of violet-grey marked the horizon on one side, the sky palest blue to mauve...
and then there was the shimmering expanse of a pearly viridian sea green, as sunbeams filtered by clouds moved over the flat mass of water…i am trying to recall something of the experience of watching the sea change colours, over the course of an hour or so [quick sketches, in graphite].
it was a bright and breezy afternoon by the sea… and it rained.with the sudden deluge of rain my sketchbook and i were all too soon drenched. the pages swelled up into the shape of a concertina, all crinkled and kinked - and i dropped it right by the sea while putting on my rain mac…oh the irony! sea drawings united with the sea!there was a similar downpour of rain a day or so later, further down the coast, when i took a quick detour on my way home, to see the sea, once again. i thought this diversion might help a little with some of my paintings.i met a man with two ladders painting a fisherman's hut. i remarked favourably on the crackled patina of the encrusted black paintwork, what a shame it was to have to paint over it. he replied that he had been given strict instructions NOT to paint over it by the owner, and was only re-painting a small side window. i thought more about the two ladders - from prior experience painters and decorators will carry at least two ladders at all times - and came to the conclusion the roof also needed fixing. i also learnt from the brief exchange that the fisherman's hut belonged to a very well-known painter - nice studio!!the sky soon turned very dark and i knew it would rain eventually.i walked close to the waves, watching the tumbling coils of dark water, the creamy-coloured spume frothed and foamed - [as it does!].
the sea rippled and scurried to the shore, waves rolling in, crashing, drawing back - [as they do!].
sea scatters, glistening shingle along the foreshore, large pebbles deeply embedded in the smooth wet sand. i want to prise some of them out, or skim a few small ones back into the sea...
these quick sketches were done while walking and just watching the waves, the drawing and mark-making imprinting a memory of sorts.
most of the sketchbook i have since had to tape or glue back together. it is now in a slightly wonky state, but its temporary union with the sea has given it some character.[more thoughts] when i look at the sea i don't always experience it as having a history or a story to tell, how others might have lived or died by it. the sea is the element, in the moment: timeless, vast, powerful, dramatic, dangerous - but also reassuring in its vitality and constancy. then there are the issues of coastal erosion, rising sea-levels, pollution, the litter and debris, sea-life… i do think about these things too.whenever i feel on edge [stressed] i have a desire to go to the edge, the edge of the land, that is - as if it will help to disperse the issues on my mind because they are quite literally behind me.a trip to see the sea is seen as invigorating, good for the constitution. stormy changeable weather discourages the tourists. a walk to the end of a pier at on a blustery day and it can feel as if you are on a big ship, sailing the high seas…
[perhaps i should have taken some photographs instead]...The real sea is cold and black, full of animals; it crawls under this thin green film made to deceive people. The sylphs all round me have been taken in: they see nothing but the thin film, that is what proves the existence of God. I see underneath![Nausea, Jean-Paul Sartre]
and yet another waterlog
and yet another water log...
[the footpath was out of bounds, a lakeside view]
[flooded meadows, next to the river, above the waterline]
[flooded meadow, approaching snow island, calm waters]
[flooded path near the river, no right of way]
[another day, another meadow, choppy waters, no sea legs]
[see… someone left the flood gates open…]...
would you buy this painting?
[untitled water painting, acrylic on linen, 20cm x 20cm]dear reader, would you buy this painting? it's never been in a gallery or an exhibition (it has no picture frame) and it's very unlikely to be. i seem to have a lot of paintings (or works) like this - many things started, but never really finished. if i add up the work i haven't really finished to the other work which i think is done, then the work soon mounts up...
so what is it with this imagined water surface? i always tell myself not to use philosophy to express a thought which i would never have entertained myself, so to paraphrase Nietzsche, the higher you fly the smaller you will look to those on the ground, is an idle thought which seems relevant to this feeling of uncertainty, a conflict or contradiction, between what you want and what you get by doing something...
within the perceived depths of water (rather than the sky) perhaps it is the counterpoint to thinking that, being above and yet below, in the ebb and the flow, but what do i know..?..the element of water, the high seas, the oceans, ships and shorelines, rivers and ports, a significant part of family history, and then making a small connection...it is not the river that influenced this small painting; it could be the weather, the rain, the floods, the seashore and the waves. perhaps it is an ocean (in the shade of blue), and where there is an ocean there is also the air and the big blue sky, but sometimes clouds, or storms, forming and dispersing, influencing, mirroring, moving, from one element into another...anyhow, it's just a thought......[see also: on the surface, water paintings]