August...

oil on canvas, 140 x 90cms

I completed this painting last week. I see it as the next one in my ‘Stolen Car’ series that I have talked about (I say ‘next one’ but I’ve decided the previous ‘first’ painting I made is pretty rubbish, so this is probably now the first in the series (which I’ll probably decide is also rubbish in a few months time too)).

At the moment I’m not sure what I think, and I’ve turned it to the wall for now. It is more or less the painting I planned to make, but whether this was a good idea I’m not sure yet, but that feels pretty exciting. You try to extend yourself with each piece you do. When you create something new you often can't be sure what it is you've made. I think an audience can sometimes play a really important role in 'completing' an artwork.

It seems to demonstrate two aspects of my approach: the need to be more controlled and pared down in the background, which represents the distant motorway and evening sky, up against something more gestural in the foreground, which represents the briefly illuminated rough textured grass in the car’s headlights, the way one suddenly catches sight of something. The two areas seem almost to be in two different time frames, which I quite like the idea of. It’s too early to say anything else about it, but I’m happy to hear anyone else’s views.

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