Michael Fairclough HRNEAC's paintings of sun, sky and sea are richly-coloured, multi-layered and roughly-textured.
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Artist Statement / Method of Working
Michael's paintings of the immensity of sun, sky and sea are richly-coloured, multi-layered and roughly textured. The sea is used as a simple band of sky-reflecting surface, the land appears as a dark mysterious form, a flat shore or a looming cliff. Above these liquid and solid elements the sky, with it's shifting interplay of light and cloud, is closely observed, analysed and re-formed into a dense pictorial structure.The moments of sunset can be a fast-changing sequence of unique, subtle or dramatic variations. The longer twilight that follows can be rich in veils and flashes of colour. Michael's current paintings are contemplations on this transition from light to dark. Michael has always been a landscape artist, making tiny oil studies of the Taw-Torridge estuary while studying painting at Kingston and developing this practice in explorations of Donegal and the west coast of Ireland. Summers spent on beaches in Greece and southern Italy produced work with an underlying structural element resulting in paintings and aquatints with a strong formal character.