Quarry
"Quarry" is a project about the act of creation under scrutiny. It's a piece of writing and series of paintings created as a response to the Sky Arts show "Landscape Artist of the Year: Quarry View" which was filmed on 20th June 2024 in Llanberis, Wales. Airing in 2025, the series features artists competing in a timed painting challenge to win a prize commission from The Courtauld Gallery. I am one of the artists.
Quarry (extract)
There's a lot of green in the field. Sharp needles of green protruding up from the ground, each one piercing a drop of dew. Green squeezing out of tubes. Piles of it being picked up, pressed, pushed, smeared and rotated into circles onto canvases.
A lot of outlines are going down onto canvases. Outlines and placeholders, symbols and motifs. Is that a tree, or a symbol of a tree? Or a tree archetype? Is it observed or remembered? Or imagined? The lonely tree. The copse with the flat underside giving way to the mirrored surface of the lake beyond. It's hot and sweat trickles from under my cap, dripping onto the paper.
I see you’ve written the word cascading on your workings out. Why is that?
I'm interested in the lines and shapes inside that quarry and the way they cascade downwards. I'm interested in the trees and the garland shape they form around the top right.
Paintings
Acrylic paint and acrylic ink on linen board. 40 x 50cm
Aluminium frame in copper colour.
The first paintings in this gallery were made in preparation for the competition and the last was made on the day. Click to expand and zoom.
 Quarry One |  Quarry One - Detail |  Quarry One |
|---|---|---|
 Quarry One |  Quarry Two |  Quarry Two |
 Quarry Two - Detail |  Quarry Two |  Quarry Three |
 Quarry Three |  Quarry Three - Detail |  Quarry Three |
 Quarry Three - Detail |  Quarry Three - Detail |  Quarry Four |
 Quarry Four |  Quarry Four - Detail |  Quarry Four |
 IMG_6639cropLR-masked-out |