Exhibition in The Café Upstairs- Ian's Watercolour Landscapes
Ian Says
"My interest in watercolour painting only started after my arrival in the UK in 1994. Three years later I held my first solo exhibition at Bevere Gallery. Shortly after that Heather asked me if I would be interested in doing some teaching at Bevere, and eventually I was taking up to four 4 classes a week.
At the end of 1998 I joined Alastair in the Framing Shop and have worked there on a part time basis ever since.
I have continued to paint, teach and exhibit as often as my time permits, though I must confess that these days I tend to paint more for my own pleasure. Consequently I now hold fewer exhibitions during the year and only run selective courses in Worcester and the Cotswolds.
I have always enjoyed pencil sketching or even working on detailed engineering drawings, but I had never thought much about adding “colour” to any of this work.
My interest in watercolour painting only started about fifteen years ago after reading some art instruction books that had been recommended to me by a friend. One book in particular was “The Ron Ranson Technique“. All but a few of the paintings in the book were illustrated in black and white, and yet I was instantly “Hooked”. Captivated by the simplicity, freshness and apparent ease at which he seemed to apply paint to paper.
Since then I have read and studied many books by different watercolour artist and with advent of “Art” videos, it made it even easier and more pleasurable to watch some of these talented artists at work. Consequently my style has been greatly influenced by the works of Seago, Wesson, Fletcher-Watson, Yardley and Chamberlain, who are masters of capturing the essence of a scene with simplicity and with freshness.
I travel around the UK as often as time will permit as this “Island” has a wealth of scenes just asking to be painted. I am particularly drawn to the landscapes of the Cotswolds and Lake District and the seascapes of Devon, Cornwall and Pembrokeshire. Though I can just as easily find spectacular scenes not ten minutes drive from my home in Worcestershire.
Mood, space and a sense of timelessness are the qualities that I strive to achieve in my paintings, and watercolour, with its wonderful translucent quality is an ideal medium, and well suited to my traditional style and approach. In my paintings, I try to include at least one of my favourite subjects which are historic buildings, trees and fishing boats."
