Journées du Patriomoine

Private view at the Manoir du Rouergou the 13th of September from 18h30.

I’m really pleased to be exhibiting my work in the converted gallery at the Manoir Rouergou, St Medard Catus, during les journées du patriomoine.

The exhibition runs from the 14th until the 22nd of September. I will personally be present in the gallery to welcome visitors on the Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday.

I realise that since I have lived in the Commune of Catus, the majority of my adult life, I return repeatedly to the same subjects and the same ideas; the rural life which enchanted me when I first moved to the Lot and the people which surround me, all bathed in the clear light of the south west of France.

It’s hard to be precise about why I am attracted to interpret a certain image. An artist’s work is, I think, a perpetual exploration, and one ‘way of looking’ opens up a wealth of possibilities. Patterns of shadow and light, for instance, create fascinating shapes, whether they fall on a body, or on a wall. Certain subjects reoccur in a cyclic manner, suddenly I find I am drawn to the shapes of a herd of cows as I pass, and then see them everywhere, or trees shadows in spring.. There seems no need to go anywhere else for inspiration. There is more than I could ever deal with in a small radius of my home. If I return to a subject years later, there seems to be a completely new way of looking at it. This, for me, is the joy and discovery of the visual arts.

I have thought about, and made moves towards abstract art, but there is such a mystery in reality and observation, that nothing I could ‘invent, could possibly be more interesting