chriswoodartist

I capture light, movement and weather

As an artist people often ask “what do you paint”, it’s a fair question and my stock answer is – I primarily paint the sea.
The conversation can often stall there but over the years I have learned to give another answer to a more important question that doesn’t get asked much, which is “why do you paint”. My answer is hard to put into words – I paint because I like to share my passion for the maritime environment. I enjoy looking at the coast, the sea and sky. The weather, the atmosphere, the light, the movement of the waves. I also am obsessed with boats and the people that work and play on the water.

When you say you paint seascapes, the first thing that enters peoples minds is an archetypal, dynamic scene of waves crashing against rocks but for me, the important thing is capturing fleeting moments and trying to portray the feeling of being at the epicentre of the scene. The smell, the sounds and the anticipation of the next moment is important.

Being an artist can sometimes be a lonely experience and sharing that feeling is something that I am also interested in. I was born in Suffolk on the rugged East Coast and a sense of PLACE and identity are fundamental to my work.

Composition is a key element and I often change things to convey my message. For example the painting below is of the estuary of the River Deben, in Suffolk and I have deliberately left out the myriad of moored boats – this is partly due to my paintings being based on childhood memories and partly due to the fact that I wanted the scene to be serene, more about the physical geography rather than the people and their presence. CHANGE is always present in my paintings and the element of timelessness is something I endeavour to capture. I am not sentimental or nostalgic, I do not long for the past, I try to bring together and document past and present.

Coastal erosion is an element of the passing of TIME and being played out on the East Coast to an alarming extent. My studio paintings are made, in the time honoured way, from watercolour sketches made on location but the above is a piece made entirely from imagination. The low sandy cliffs are eroded by the movement of the waves below and the weather above. There is a paradox in the colour of the sea, which in reality would not be crystal clear. Pollution is a feature that is close to my heart.
NB: I WILL ADD TO THIS POST LATER.