In this solo video the artist guides viewers through a temporary exhibition held in Jubilee Hall, Poundbury, located behind the local Waitrose. The space, available for only five days, is arranged with benches to encourage contemplation. The artist showcases a large body of work consisting mainly of expansive oil paintings on untreated linen (flax) that depict Dorset landscapes – especially scenes from Eggedon/Egerton, Bullbarrow, Lewiston Hill, Allington Hill, Marshwood Vale, Bridport, and the surrounding countryside. Paintings range from 3‑foot studies to 10‑foot canvases, many rendered in dramatic skies, stormy weather, misty evenings, midsummer light, and glowing colour palettes. The speaker explains the thematic organization of the show, the use of series and triptychs, the meticulous glazing process (multiple layers, weekly drying times), and the tactile qualities of flax linen. He highlights specific works such as “View from Eggeden” (10 ft), “Dramatic Skies over Eggedon” (8 ft), “North Bowood – Lewiston Hill”, “Colmers Hill – Gloaming”, “Stormy Egon” studies, midsummer series, and path paintings of Lewiston and Allington. The narrative emphasizes the artist’s love for the Dorset scenery, the expressive possibilities of large formats, and the invitation for the public to visit the exhibition, which runs this weekend from 10 am to 6 pm.
Chapters
Right then, hello, good morning from Poundbury here and from the lovely Jubilee Hall. I'll just show you around. So yeah, this is the heart of Poundbury. It's behind Waitrose, and I had to take this space on. I could only get it for 5 days, unfortunately, because it's used by other groups all the time, but But just look at this space. I mean, it's just absolutely perfect, particularly for showing my larger paintings. You see I've got benches here as well to invite people just to sit and contemplate the work. This is my largest painting in here, a 10-foot View from Eggeden, which has proved to be very popular. And I've hung the exhibition quite thematically, so this end is quite sort of dramatic, and in this particular corner, the blue skies, Egerton over to Bullbarrow. It's a companion piece to a commission from a few years ago. I've got quite a few 3-foot-wide paintings. Feeding this blue storms over Eggedon. I'm working on a 7-foot version of this at the moment, which is great fun. And then this is the, the COVID for the show, dramatic light again from Eggedon. So over in this corner, yeah, Definitely one of the most popular ones, the dramatic skies over Eggenham. It's an 8-foot painting on flax. The flax is basically untreated linen. It's got a lovely color and texture to it. And then that's next to A North Bowood painting, which is on the way to Lewiston Hill. And this is, um, yeah, I just really love the way these mists curled along the hills. It's one of those moments. Next to it there's a Colmers Hill painting. People have been calling the Gloaming. Little twinkling lights of Bridport there in the distance. And then we've got one of my Stormy Egon pieces here, 3-foot study. I've just done a 6-foot commission of this. They're great fun to paint, you know, because you can just be very expressive in the skies of all the rain and the storms. Look at this space, wonderful. See, I've got these benches off Bridport Market, good old Bridport Market. And then, yeah, so these are a couple I've done, they're midsummer paintings. There was a particular day about 5 years ago that has that inspired these, this particular series. The first painting took me 2 years to complete, just to really get the right palette and the right ambience. And then these were relatively quick, like 3 months each. So yes, I could be quite expressive once I knew what the palette was. And then this is one of my misty Dorset paintings. Other lovely colors in there. And then Light in the Valley. Pink, pinks and lemon greens in that one. Then I've got a couple of recent glowing paintings, really pop off the wall. I often work in series, either a pair of paintings or triptychs or often, and it really helps me to take the work elsewhere. When you do one painting, sometimes you're not quite sure where it's going to go. As soon as you make two, they begin to suggest different possibilities for where the ideas can go next. But yeah, I really like how these just glow. And then there, next to this other big glowing painting, a little bit more subdued, my big, uh, long sunset from Amington Hill looking across the Marshwood Vale. This is actually painted on a flax, which is an untreated linen, which has got this lovely texture to it. It's not a regular weave, or it's got blemishes in, and that really adds to the character of it. But it really glows as a painting. So that's another 8-foot. And then I got a smaller Midsummer Study here, 3-foot. Lots of really rich colors in there, you can see. And in this corner I've got a couple of my path paintings. On the right there's Lewiston, and on the left Allington. Lewiston is such a magical place, place for those of you who've gone there, and it's inspired a lot of commissions, and particularly in bluebell season. And then Allington Hill is the hill underneath that view there. So this is a path that you wind up, and on top of the hill you look over the Marshwood Vale. But I just loved how the spring sunshine came through this dappled leaves and the path, very welcoming. I've got another small Lewiston painting here in bluebell season, and this is on a flax again, so this lovely sort of rough surface. And then next to it, I've got actually another one of my gentle Eggedon series. It's so nice to give my space, give my work the space it needs. It's just a sense of calm in here and patience and, yeah, just allowing yourself time to contemplate something without any rush. This is, uh, Rainbow Clouds above Eggedon, welcome to the viewer. And on the other side I've got Misty Blue Evening from Eggedon Hill, which I really, really like. Very gentle painting like this takes quite a long time to make because it's built up using many, many glazes. You're just trying to get the absolute best subtlety of color and tone. Of course, it's oil on canvas, so every layer you have to wait at least a week for it to dry and then just very gradually build it up. But yeah, I'm very pleased with this. I've done this at several different scales, actually, at 3-foot and 4-foot, 5-foot, and She'd probably do a 6-foot. So yeah, so this is the space, and I do hope you can make it if you haven't already. This is just on for this weekend, 10 till 6, in the Jubilee Hall in Poundbury, which is behind Waitrose. And yeah, it's just— it's— I think for me it's just the best way to see my work. It's been really lovely for me to to see my work like this. And yeah, I hope you get the opportunity to see it as well. So yeah, hopefully see you over the weekend. Okay, bye-bye.
