Barbara Macfarlane
Artist Statement
When I was at art school in Exeter I didn't like being enclosed in the studios with the constant analysing that went on. I decided to escape onto Dartmoor and paint wild places and open, dramatic skies. I painted in watercolour on small pieces of paper stuck onto a board, quickly moving from one sketch to another. After some weeks I would go back to the studio and paint a large canvas in oils from my sketches. Then I would go out again. I still use this method of painting and still love wild, open landscapes with their constantly changing colours. One day the sea is blue, the next day it's green.
Over the years I have developed my own language of marks, colour and balance of empty spaces, to the point that I instinctively know what is right. I use a limited number of colours, sometimes only 2 or 3 in each painting. I see my paintings as minimal statements which represent the elements I want to record. I want my large paintings to be as immediate and condensed as a small sketch or watercolour eliminating detail, picking out the essential elements of line, shape, colour and space. I never re-work my paintings, they have to work first time.
Click here to view artist's website – www.barbaramacfarlane.com