Artist Explanation
Painting a picture isn’t just about copying whatever’s in front of you. For the artist, it’s about trying new things, whether it’s unusual colours, textures, shapes or patterns. It’s about a response to the subject in the artist’s own developing style.

For those of us with a deep passion for the act of painting, the Shropshire countryside is an enormous source of inspiration. In my work, splashes of paint, patterns, marks, scribbles, blobs, composition and colour placement, are designed to reflect the elements, the forms, the colours and the rich textures found in the woods, on the hills and in the fields of the county.

Returning to the studio after a field trip, with a sketchbook full of ideas is extremely invigorating. To start a painting with a head full of inspiration after wandering the footpaths, the hills or the highways and byways of Shropshire is a marvellous feeling. One way of capturing and continue that mood is to paint.

Arbitrary clues to the paintings ‘subject,’ can be found in the titling of a piece, which incorporates place names, musical references, poetry or pieces of ‘cut up’ phrases which is often an emotional reminder of a particularly spectacular Shropshire view or village. But they are abstract and the titles reflect that.

It is very difficult to explain how they are painted as they are to some degree, spontaneous and intuitive. In saying that, there is a contradiction as they are structured and contrived. After all I do go out and consciously paint a non figurative picture. I have built up my own coded language of symbols to help me map and balance each painting. However, do not look for and explanation or for an image, they are a personal expression and response to the environment.

They can be seen as experiments in decoration and colour. They are abstracted works. They are about mark making. They are about paint upon a surface. They are meant to be unusual, different, puzzling and playful. They are meant to be strong, powerful and extremely colourful. But most of all, they are meant to be fun. Steve Vicary

Current Exhibitions

Current Exhibitions