Exhibition
A Celebration of Torquay
Lockdown was a difficult and sometimes disastrous period for everyone. But for me it did have an unexpected positive outcome. As a practicing painter my annual routine included a period of painting in Europe. The exotic lavender fields of Provence, the acres of golden sunflowers and vine field patterns of the Dordogne bathed in sunlight were rewarding places to paint in situ. However, these activities were brought to a standstill when lockdown anchored us all to our own homes and local environments. But for me, this was not a negative situation as it encouraged me to look for painting subject matter in my local area and I “discovered“ the town that had been my backyard for over twenty years - Torquay! We’ve had glorious Summer weather during the lockdown years which has provided the in situ artist with the equivalent periods of dry, warm painting time as can be relied upon in places like Southern France and Spain. I suppose it was because of the unreliability of the English weather coupled with my enthusiasm for painting outdoors in sun drenched unexplored landscapes that I hadn’t considered developing a prolonged painting project in my local area. But when I started to do small in situ paintings in Torquay I realised that here was a place full of visual delight and positive human activity that offered endless painterly opportunities. When I begin a new painting theme the first paintings are always directly topographical and realistic, setting down what I see in front of me in order to get to know my subject. This representational approach will then develop into a more intuitively expressive response as the subject begins to reveal itself to me. This exhibition represents my journey so far in my exploration of a fascinating seaside town.
📅 20 May - 1 July 2023
Launch
📍 Artizan Collective
⚫ Exhibition Finished
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Participating Artists
Martin Dutton SWAc
I have been compulsively making pictures for sixty-three years now, and my zeal is unabated! My work is multifaceted, and I am interested in many aspects of the creation of visual images. Over the years this diversity of ideas and subject matter has resolved itself into the identification of different "themes" in my working process - different starting points, different final aims. I work on an individual theme for as long as the creative flow is alive or until the activity is interrupted by life’s events and personal circumstances. After the interruption I will often return to a previous theme which will, in turn, follow its own unpredictable time scale. My Venice theme has continued for many years and has involved many visits to that glorious city in the lagoon. The early representational paintings have, since my wife died, become more subjectively abstract recalling the wonderful experiences we had in Seranisimo. The oil pastels, shown on the website, are part of my ‘In-situ painting’ theme which has continued throughout my painting life. Most of my work outdoors is done in oils, the use of pastels is a fairly recent indulgence. Working in the landscape trying to capture the essential visual and sensory aspects of the subject within the timescale and physical demands of in-situ work, has a particular appeal to me. The flower paintings come from a theme some years ago when my wife liked to fill Yorkshire chimney pots with burgeoning blooms of flowers, I loved to paint them, and she used the paintings as house decoration! A happy joint enterprise. Other themes include intuitive abstract painting which is a development from my ‘Linear Abstracts’ which was a dominant aspect of my work when we lived in Yorkshire. I have been an elected member of the South West Academy for a number of years, am a recently retired President of Teignmouth Art Society, and Vice- President of Devon Art Society. I have held numerous solo exhibitions and have work in collections in the UK and abroad. I welcome visits to my own house cellar gallery in Maidencombe. I am an elected member of the South West Academy, 2008, past President Teignmouth Art Society, and past Vice-President Devon Art Society.
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Works of Martin Dutton SWAc
An Exploration of Home
Lockdown was a difficult and sometimes disastrous period for everyone. But for me it did have an unexpected positive outcome. As a practicing painter my annual routine included a period of painting in Europe. The exotic lavender fields of Provence, the acres of golden sunflowers and vine field patterns of the Dordogne bathed in sunlight were rewarding places to paint in situ. However, these activities were brought to a standstill when lockdown anchored us all to our own homes and local environments. But for me, this was not a negative situation as it encouraged me to look for painting subject matter in my local area and I “discovered“ the town that had been my backyard for over twenty years - Torquay!
We’ve had glorious Summer weather during the lockdown years which has provided the in situ artist with the equivalent periods of dry, warm painting time as can be relied upon in places like Southern France and Spain. I suppose it was because of the unreliability of the English weather coupled with my enthusiasm for painting outdoors in sun drenched unexplored landscapes that I hadn’t considered developing a prolonged painting project in my local area. But when I started to do small in situ paintings in Torquay I realised that here was a place full of visual delight and positive human activity that offered endless painterly opportunities.
When I begin a new painting theme the first paintings are always directly topographical and realistic, setting down what I see in front of me in order to get to know my subject.
This representational approach will then develop into a more intuitively expressive response as the subject begins to reveal itself to me. This exhibition represents my journey so far in my exploration of a fascinating seaside town.
Exhibiting Artists
