Brancaster Chronicles No. 78: Richard Ward Paintings
26th October 2019, near Kings Lynn
Taking part: Anne Smart, Anthony Smart, Hilde Skilton, Mark Skilton, Sarah Greenwood, Robin Greenwood, Charley Greenwood, Richard Ward, Noela James, John Pollard
26th October 2019, near Kings Lynn
Taking part: Anne Smart, Anthony Smart, Hilde Skilton, Mark Skilton, Sarah Greenwood, Robin Greenwood, Charley Greenwood, Richard Ward, Noela James, John Pollard
Brancaster Chronicles 
Richard
I really admire how your paint arrives on your canvas.
in the best possible way, I see it as a sort of ‘slap dash’.
To say it is done with immediacy would not describe the richness and depth.
To me I see a level of achieved difficulty which reverses the look of the literal definition.
That’s hard.
I have had lots of conversations around how to be able to make marks,forms or things [ even resolved abstract paintings !], which avoid overworked and over-thought muddiness and appear to have just happened..
I realised this after looking again and again at the pink marks in ‘juni19mkl’.They come almost from nowhere and the colour is in sinc with the pace of the mark. Fast and refreshing.[ I am avoiding their treeness ]
I also admire your ambition to achieve a “deeper and more specific space” in both your figurative and abstract paintings
‘sept19hkl’ and ‘aug19hkl’ I see as the most abstract. But, I think I think that they could be all read figuratively [particularly as images on screen,but not the real thing] This not necessarily a negative.
Say in ‘aug19kl’ there is a defined tree in central position. Figurative to the extent that it almost begs me to work out what species it is…….but in reference to your “space” project it is visually and spatially demanding because the viewer is encouraged to navigate around it from its foreground and into the literal background and distance
Is this possible in ‘september19hkl’ ? [which I think is more abstract] Well…this painting fails to create such a deep space.
A space for virtual space travels. Its space is all up front .Some tangible depth can be felt, but only the shallow space of a human reach. The space is bit like that in John Pollard’s ‘Pseudo-Obstruction’, the majority of which stays up near the front using a sort of lamination to achieve this tangible depth…and yes with some deeper pockets of space giving a look of more invented variety.
Its all marvellous, this space thing. And confusing.
In the end, what is top of the list for me in your paintings is your ability to paint, really PAINT, that naturalness that is so hard to achieve.
That ‘SLAP’ it on and ‘DASH’ it awayness.
For me that is one of the many key components of the abstract painting that I admire.
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Hi Anne,
Thanks for those comments.
I like what you say about september 19h (sorry about the dreadful names – they’re really just file names and I forgot to remove the “kl”s, which only mean “klein”.) I’m hoping that some of the space I’m discovering in landscape and still-life will somehow bleed over into more abstract paintings and september19h is one that I think has a bit of both – still-life at the bottom turning more landscapey at the top.
On the whole, I think abstract painting (when it is not being flat) tends towards landscape or cosmic space, but I’m hoping to get a more intimate, still-life, “human reach” space at some stage.
I chose september19h and august19h for exactly that reason.
I’m very pleased and flattered to hear your thoughts on my mark-making. I think the speed helps me to avoid becoming stiff and contrived. I have sometimes thought that it’s a bit careless and disrespectful of the viewer, so it’s good to hear your approval. I’ve been painting directly with my hands a lot this year.
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Brilliant and beautiful.
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Many thanks Kevin.
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