My approach to painting en plein air does not begin and end at the actual painting stage. I am absorbing the images of the landscape continuously as I drive through the countryside or stop at some point along the road to stretch my legs or have a cup of tea, my eye rarely leaves the sight of the landscape and the associated sky.
The en plein air works were generated out of a restricted pallet that was determined by both what I was seeing around me in the garden at home and in my travels around several regional sites. What resulted as a response to these experiences was a creative environment in the studio which allowed the Spook as an effect to manifest. This was demonstrated through an openness to playing with the pallet of colours in responding to the forms and tones that emerged from the scenes I was witnessing and interpreting through the act of painting. There was a clearer distinction of purpose as I was mindful of allowing the Spook to inform the process through a heightened level of perception. As always squinting plays a part in deciphering the balance and light of a painting.
Squinting is a common technique utilised by visual artists, particularly painters, as a way of separating themselves from the work. Squinting is utilised by artists to view their paintings through an alternative lens as it allows the artist to gauge the overall light and composition of a work rather than the detail of each brushstroke. The technique simply involves squinting your eyes (or taking your glasses off) to look at an artwork through blurred vision. This enables the artist to gain a greater sense of the overall light and balance of a painting without being distracted by specific highlights or points of reference.
Squinting can used as a technique for revealing the Spook in a specific artwork as part of the creative process. This is applicable because it allows the artist to step away and re-see or reinterpret an artwork through an opaquer lens, thus revealing the hidden layers of a work, and the hidden layers of the Spook.