To visit the studio of painter Gary Crowder, packed with works at all stages of his process, is to be reminded of how one can be picked up, transported to another place, and be moved when the paint brush, in this instance, is in the right hand.
A painters painter, Gary's works can be raw and 'not considered' in the best possible way. By which I mean so as to not render ones subject lifeless.
'Put simply, Gary's work moves and excites without ever appearing to try'.
An artists studio can be a treat to visit, and Gary's fabulously well appointed dedicated studio space is no exception.
His studio, a private space, is found brimming with personality, influences, loves and found items, from a walk, .... maybe kept simply to remind or for its colour, shape or texture, perhaps it is an object many of us might miss that becomes important to serving the work.
An artists studio is where they feel most themselves and can simply get lost in what they do, this is where the magic happens...
Gary has written a little insight into his working process...
'Working in a way that has been developed over many years, my process is to begin a painting with a loose idea of what I want to achieve already in my mind. These ideas always come from loose sketches or photographs I have taken of things that inspire me. Old sheds, water towers, fences, allotments ,churches, and old industrial buildings feature in my work, often placed within either a coastal or rural landscape, which evokes a sense of loneliness and longing.
I paint on plywood, and my process begins in a traditional way by creating a very observed drawing of something onto the board, and then using oil paints I begin to develop the painting building up many layers of paint. At some point in this process, I feel the need to break free of the observational process , and play with the idea of abstracting the images, this is achieved by removing layers of paint in a seemingly destructive act in order to see what abstractive possibilities emerge from this act, I then paint back into the new image, and repeat the process of adding and taking away paint.
This process can take a long time, but this is the way that seems to work for me, ...part instinct, part intuition, and part letting go, ...and knowing when to put down the brushes'.
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