Autumn Into Winter: Impressions of Digley

FAMILIAR PATHS AND MOORLANDS

The Changing Landscape

This new body of work explores familiar paths and moorlands and observes the landscape’s transformation from autumn into winter, making the gradual gait of the seasons into something that the viewer can stride through themselves.

As the warm colours of autumn give way to the palette of winter, this time can often seem oppressively gloomy, but it can also make the ever-changing light and colour of these seasons all the more striking.

Walking through the woods in autumn can be inspiring; the ephemeral golden light of the shortening days serves as a bright yet melancholy prelude to winter. While still hospitable to the rambling artist, the chill of a late autumn breeze bears a premonition of the cold to come.

Winter is where plein air painters fear to tread, with freezing temperatures and hazardous conditions making any excursion a battle against the elements.

By working with pen, ink and homemade tools to quickly capture the essence of a scene, my sketches provided me with a snapshot to be developed later in the studio.

Inspired by the Impressionists, this return to Digley is a celebration of the changing landscape throughout autumn and winter.

As the climate shifts and winters become warmer, the deep snows of the past can be forgotten; with these drawings and paintings I aim to freeze those moments in time.