On Distant Shores

So, where do the paintings come from? The South Downs are their principal source material. Richards' studio is in Lancing, and it's only a short drive to the South Downs Way. It isn't a craggy dramatic landscape, but it does ascend to peaks like Chanctonbury Ring, Devils Dyke, and Ditchling Beacon, all of which have drawn him back time and again. Richard was asked to stay, explore, and work at Cill Rialaig, an artists' retreat foundation in Kerry, Ireland. It has had a strong influence on his paintings, and he has returned every year since. Recent excursions to Portugal and Italy have reignited his fascination with the urban landscape too.

The majority of the compositions begin with sketches, photographs, or just memories of walks or places visited. All of them are only starting points for developing something on linen, panel, or paper. Before any of this can happen, though, the painting surface must be prepped. Surfaces are primed multiple times to cover the weave of the linen and create the preferred surface that will hold the marks he produces while allowing for free flow of paint when needed. This may be traced back to the connection to the surface provided by lithography stones and etching plates of printmaking. While some paintings start with a 'traditional' white surface, many now have a coloured surface: orange, pale cerulean, or raw umber.

To build layers, thin glazes with a relatively limited palette are used. The primed foundation colours are then allowed to influence or be completely obscured by the top glazes, only to be revealed when layers are sanded back or drawn through while still wet. The painting process finally takes over and begins to develop the subsequent direction of the painting. Original elements can then be reintroduced into the work to provide it with the necessary foundation. When working on a painting, the entire surface is involved. Being drawn, redrawn, refined and redefined over a period of time.

These new paintings are essentially a record of his interaction with the South Downs, Kerry, and the landscape in general, wherever he is. Perhaps a morning when a sea mist engulfed the coast and crept across the South Downs, transforming it into a fluid landscape. The light rising slowly, penetrating through the mist and gradually exposing shapes, tones, and hues. Sky, water, and land becoming one, with traces of what had been covered floating in and out of focus. The light catches on surfaces, leaving splashes of colour and forms that are then gradually extinguished by the natures veils. Familiar details can be obscured by mist, worn away by rain, or bleached out by low morning or evening sun. The paintings deal with these transitions from one condition to another, short periods of time rather than a unique moment. The evocation of a location, perhaps in one's memories of somewhere visited. Recalling a feeling and sense of place over the course of time. Richard's paintings do not always need to be associated with a specific time or place. They must entice the viewer and allow the piece to meld with their personal memories of places visited.

'From Ditchling Beacon' refers to a drive along Ditchling Beacon towards the coast. As heavy bands of cloud moved overhead, sprays of light hit the undulating ridges of the terrain. The scale of this and other works is intended to immerse the observer completely within a painting. To begin to expand one's field of view in the manner that color-field painting would. At this scale, the physical involvement intrigues and questions the approach and outcome of a piece.

"Hours Had Passed" expands on the effects of chiaroscuro in the landscape. At this time of day, the light is leaving, taking the details with it. Reducing things to shape and form, light and dark, and seeking answers of one's own. These extremes highlight the significance of what is between oneself and the landscape at any one time. This is what shapes the experience of being in the terrain: light, dark, sun, rain, wind, noise etc Translating this into paint is where the work starts from. ‘Longed For Still’, ‘Mooring Point’ and ‘Shadow Veils’ take you to those places where you can lose yourself. Somewhere to just sit, look and forget.

A recent return trip to Kerry, Ireland, inspired the work 'On Distant Shores,' which also serves as the exhibition's title. The long sweep of the bay echoed in the long sweep of the incoming cloud. With the Atlantic storming in along its coastline, the scenery in Kerry has everything thrown at it. The 'Dark Sky' designation emphasises the unadulterated character of the scenery here. The inhabitants are few and dispersed, allowing the elements to shape and define the area. As a weather front lands, the paintings 'Cloud Burst' and ‘Jagged Air’ approach the shore and hang over the coastline.

Knowing when a painting is finished is always a challenge. The painting must stand alone as a statement while offering something unknown too which brings him back to the work and leads to the next.