All the greats of the 19th Century tried to master
the rigging for the weather, choosing to speak of
the environment that we live in as
the bearer of human spirit, and the weather
dictating our fate. We seem to auction such work
with reverence in the main galleries.
Every movement has a mean of achievement
rehashed and devoted to an ideal. These great men
were responding or retreating from
the technology of their time. They were led by a
painting tradition hurtling in ideas and precises of
the future of the human race, our
character, our hopes and desired rolled into
painting.
What seems obvious now through the outbreak of
media coverage is the fear still exists. Climate
change though challenged is far too
sophisticated to monitor and make conclusion from
as the Professor at East Anglia found once his
emails had been dissected by an
unknown source during the conference.
The reason for this intro is perspectivaly finding the
notion and style of your work as fitting into a
spectrum of contemporary interest.
The Art Nouveau of the 1920s evolving towards
advertising in the 1930s ideals of the new British
world, its beaches, landscapes and
people all enjoying consumption. My grandfather
Bill Crawford, an advertising guru in both Great
Britain and the United States was
part of a current of contemporary thinking which
took into account the peacenik subties of such
work. Divulging somewhat he
invented "the Guinness is good for you advert' and
made his million, conferring with Churchill during
the war about Art/Advertising propaganda.
He understood the pared down the nature of the
image.
Your work harks back to and forward to our
awareness of the inexplicably simple images which
keep our hearts at bay, and wonder to
happen upon such a splendid scene. You have
captured the essence and the beauty of nature, our
eyes and memories feeble in
recalling our land, except through the purile shot
from a camera, aged the photo reflects aging and
an uncomfortable feeling that
that time has passed. This is an apt replacement.
And given what I have said historically, you have
placed the work in the context of
meteology. As we become dependent of accurate
forecasting, and the fears of climate change, your
work brings more relevance to us
all, here in the wildness of a media age.
