Arundel Contemporary

Momentary – Water Meadow, Hill, Boundless Sky

Increasingly, I hear David refer to duration in relation to his paintings.  By this I feel he alludes to a timelessness in the landscape, but also gradual changes wrought upon it by the seasons, as well as the momentary, infinite shifts in light.  In the landscape, time can be both barely moving and ephemeral.

But duration also hints at resistance – endurance, durability – and there is something correspondingly solid and unequivocal in his paintings: qualities that are lasting and that can be a comfort to us.

Coincidentally, I sense that he is committed these days to leaving room in his work for interpretation, presenting a scene in such a way as to offer something not wholly fixed. Not so much ‘capturing’ the landscape, but allowing it in, onto the canvas, so that the viewer might then complete the task.

This corresponds with his intention of continuing to incorporate new methods of spontaneity into his practice – to relay what he finds without judgement or imposition.

One other thing I’ve only recently become aware of is how much dedication the act of painting en plein air requires. Aside from the effort of carrying all the equipment out into the wilds and of working on large canvasses in all weathers, there are the demands of the sustained sessions of observing and painting.

I’m glad David is prepared to pursue this process. His paintings are to be treasured and the more of them there are in this the world the better for all of us.

Mick Jackson, Writer and Author