The website of the National Acrylic Painters’ Association. A non-profit making group organised by artists for artists
NAPA
National Acrylic Painters’ Association
Gerry Halpin
Bolton, Lancashire
“……an artist must think, the eye is not enough, it needs to think
as well.”
Paul Cezanne Aix-En-Provence, France (1839 -1906)
Arriving at the studio each morning is the beginning of a
marvellous and privileged opportunity to paint. An opportunity to
make visible those images which have been maturing in my mind
from the sketches I previously made after walking both the moors
and beaches where I find my sources of inspiration.
Working in an interpretive, expressive style, I am a landscape
painter who, after rambling about those inspiring places and
making on site ‘aide memoire’ sketches, prefers to paint in the
studio rather than ‘plein air’.
For me, it is fundamental that I engage totally with the landscape,
recording those images which first caught my eye and which fired
my imagination and then returning to the studio where the
equipment I need to complete the painting is to hand.
Initial sketches are vitally important to my practice and I can’t
emphasise enough how much I rely on these in the studio. They are
not detailed drawings but simply record the essence of what I
noticed and remind me of that when I start to paint. They avoid
unnecessary detail which would distract me from those feelings
and sensations first aroused, and integral to that observed moment,
ensuring my mind becomes involved in the process of painting
beyond pure mechanics.
I wholly agree with Cezanne, the eye is not enough, the mind also
needs to ‘see’ which results in personal and therefore unique
paintings, paintings which after time and with consistency of
approach, have become identified as the work of a particular artist .
COASTAL PAINTINGS
Prior to Lockdown, when air travel was available, I was always
fascinated by looking down on the landscape from an aircraft, be it
holiday flights or from occasional trips in a two seater piloted by a
friend. I would draw quickly recording the marks revealed from
looking down on the landscape, marks geographically natural and
those made by man. The results, by not including a horizon, were
linear and the necessary drawing speed added to a sense of
abstraction. I was aware that they might lean towards ‘pattern’, but
the texture and mark making inherent in my approach avoided that
kind of stylised result.
In her autobiography, ‘Out Of This Century’ Peggy Guggenheim
made the observation, when flying home from San Francisco, that
“the landscape below was amazing, better than any painting”.
I might agree with Guggenheim, but if one adds Cezannes’ notion
to the mix, ‘seeing’ through the ‘mind’ as well as the eye and not
being tied to the reality of the view, allowing feelings, sensitivity
and personal interpretation to play their part, then the resultant
painting can be equally amazing.
The late Peter Lanyon is a marvellous example of an artist who
painted the landscape from above, recording the ‘sensations’ and
not the descriptions of the observed world, from his many glider
flights above his home in Cornwall.
Since Lockdown, I haven’t flown and relied on my earlier sketches
for starting points and, whilst I had always been especially
interested in the possibilities presented by the interaction of the sea
on the land, I have recently become excited by the shoreline itself.
Not from a great height as before but rather from head height if
you will. Walking about and looking down, focussing on the
flotsam and jetsam left behind by the tide, strands of fishing nets,
buoys and seaweed. Disused jetties, rusted breakwaters and twisted
groyns along with tumbles of rocks and scatterings of pebbles and
shells were all marvellous object of intrigue.
These were the objects of my eye, but also the movement of
seawater between pools and the shifting of object caused by the
ebb and flow of the tide were additional considerations, sensations
of the mind prompting a gestural approach to painting.
My coastal shoreline paintings therefore are interpretive re-
presentations of both objects and sensations and are quite unique,
abstract works.
Being a restless painter, I love working with acrylics, mainly for
their speed of drying which allows me to scratch and scrape with
all manner of implements to achieve the rugged textural effect that
I have noted. It also allows for overpainting to be achieved quickly
and for any changes needing to be made as a result of those
important moments of contemplative sitting and looking from the
‘minds eye’, to be added without a long wait.
When dry, the surface readily accepts marks of pastel and charcoal
which I add in the final stages when working on either canvas or
heavy duty watercolour paper.