River Meets Sea

This is part of an ongoing series of paintings where water is the predominant theme of the work. One goal of these paintings is to try to create a universal image where location isn’t a factor in its motivation. This is done by eliminating any geographical references such as headlands and distant landforms and keeping the horizon well toward the top of the frame.

The different paintings are informed by different ideas and in the case of this painting, I was interested in the subtle difference between the colours of the sea and the small river pouring into it. I was also looking for a water subject that I haven’t mastered before and these rapids flowing into the sea provided me with this challenge.

In saying this all these paintings have some aspects in common not the least being that I believe the spirit of the work lies within its minutiae. The predominant foreground is a very important mechanism in obtaining this sense of spirituality. Another thing that I have noticed in the paintings where rocks are a major feature of the work, these components often take on anthropomorphic qualities before I realise it. When I am close up painting these forms I’m concentrating on the textures, colours and forms within the rock but when standing back these animistic qualities jump out at me. I do sometimes enhance these qualities but never to the point where they look contrived.

This painting took over a year to produce, starting it in the Niue studio at the peak of COVID and then the remaining 60 to 70 percent completed in Auckland in March 2023.

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