"After the Storm, Woldgate" - original watercolour by Glenn Marshall
'Epiphany' - what a lovely word. Maybe mine wasn't as dramatic as St Paul's' and happened on the road to Kilham rather than the road to Damascus, but it certainly altered my attitude to painting in general and our 'Double Vision' Exhibition in particular. You see I knew I was in a spot of bother with my paintings for the Exhibition. It was March this year and my preparations were going well on the face of it. I had decided to use 'Double Vision' as an excuse to revisit different parts of Yorkshire that had featured in my earlier work. The idea was basically sound and I had a lot of paintings under my belt. They were all right...but that was it..just all right. I wanted something better than all right. Anyone who has been on one of my courses will remember how many times I used to say "If you are not excited about doing the painting, how can you expect people to be excited about looking at it.". Disquieting thoughts were running around in my head so it was a welcome break to be invited to dine at Kilham with our longtime friends Tony and Eileen Hogan. They are both artists and we had a great night with good food and great 'arty' conversation. It had been one of those days described by the weatherman as 'unsettled'. Very heavy showers had been interspersed with bright Spring sunshine. It was raining when we drove to Kilham but as we were coming home the sun burst out again and a dazzling light enveloped the wet road and its surroundings. It suddenly dawned on me just how beautiful the area where I now live truly is. I had explored and loved the Dales and the Moors but tended to overlook the Yorkshire Wolds mainly because the friends I used to exhibit with had lived and painted there for many years. I rather felt it was their patch so didn't want to intrude and, of course, casting a giant shadow over the area was David Hockney who had claimed the Wolds as his own. But now I had no such restrictions and if the Wolds were good enough for the world's greatest living artist then they were good enough for me. So having a new subject to focus on gave me the impetus to start again from scratch. At the same time I changed my style of painting. I concentrated on making marks rather than relying on watercolour washes. Paradoxically this gave me more freedom of choice in what to paint as I now had control over the outcome of the painting. I also determined to work more quickly and 'looser' to give the finished article a more 'painterly' look. The result - I became excited about painting again. "Double Vision" is a joint exhibition with Merice and highlights our different way of looking at the world. It will be held at Bridlington Spa from 27th October until the 27th November 2014. The venue is open every day and entry is free. I hope to be there myself most days after 12 noon and will be putting on special events throughout the month - full details nearer the time. "After the Storm, Woldgate" is my first painting for the exhibition. It was done the very next day after our journey home that eventful evening. It is the first of a series of 'Wolds' paintings featuring among other things - ruined churches, deserted medieval villages,little known tracks under classic 'big skies'. I hope you like it and look forward to seeing you all at the Spa. Glenn
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