Earth Journey Continues..

April 2012

First of a new series of paintings, River Journey, some of which will be exhibited at the Biscuit Factory gallery in Newcastle in June July 2012. I've been looking at the moon quite a lot over the past 2 or 3 years (ahoooo...) and feel I've got to know it's phases more intimately. The idea of a waxing moon over a river source made sense. Also, although I've never seen this, if you stood at the source of the South Tyne river and looked down the beck you might well see a waxing cresent moon setting on the north western horizon. 

Images like this can be potent but I also acknowledge how hackneyed they can be in a New Age sort of way- seemingly profound in an elemental way but not really saying much at all. All I know is that the River Tyne has played an important part in my life and that my interest in the cosmos (I look at the night sky every night walking the dog at around midnight) makes me think a lot about the connections between my meagre existence on this little patch of rough Earth and all that stuff up there. Samuel Palmer, William Blake, Paul Nash, Wim Wenders... they help me to think about it.