I’ve
made this painting over the last few days. No, not in my usual one-hit way, I
just couldn’t get there in the time I had, but in two long sessions. I felt the
time between was pretty valuable to think about what I was after a bit more,
but having nearly got there in the first five hours work, it was difficult
returning to it and trying not to ‘refine’ it too much now the surface was much
drier, without the danger of losing some of the energy I felt it had.
Anyway…It’s my biggest motorway painting so far at seven feet across, but I
felt it could have gone two or three times bigger. That is, if I had a bigger
studio, and somewhere to store this stuff.
I’m
pleased this evening, going in to look at afresh after finishing it late last
night, unable to ‘see’ it anymore with my tired eyes and mind. In fact, it
seemed better than I thought last night- no longer part of me.
The
rust coloured sky was a return to some of the first motorway nocturnes I made
last year, but also a bit influenced by the palette observed in ‘The Bridge’ (image above),
the brilliant Scandinavian crime drama which has just finished on BBC Four. With this and
‘The Killing’, I’ve found myself totally observed in this dark world of
Scandinavian noir in recent months. ‘The Bridge’s’ many bleak locations and
intense atmosphere has certainly fed my imagination as I think about my own
forthcoming trip to Norway, Copenhagen and also Sweden now, where I will be
spending a few days. I will be crossing that bridge from Copenhagen to Malmo
myself. A picture is beginning to emerge of where I might find myself on my
trip for the first time…let’s hope it’s not in concrete boots underneath that
bridge…
This
blog is for Hasan and Umera…I’m sure you’ll let me know what you think!
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