Bren Head

'A Secret Place' oil on paper on board 38cm. x 47cm.

An uncontrolled fire on Fylingdales Moor in 2003 had a disastrous effect on the ecology of the area, burning off all the vegetation and the peat layer.

It did however, reveal many previously unknown features.
A mass of buried archaeology, revealing a vocabulary of signs reaching back into pre-history.
Carved and pecked symbols, in places of mysterious significance.

Following an investigation into prehistoric arts simplicity of form and the roots of mark making, my paintings allude to these traces and remains of past life on the Yorkshire Moors.

The Paintings are layered and obscured. As parts of the image dissolve, beginnings are submerged. Objects themselves may become less important, their forms becoming increasingly simplified or distorted.

My work is frequently abandoned and returned to at a later date.
Images are continually overlaid, obscuring their predecessors.
Areas are scratched and rubbed, layered with plaster, wax, resin and paint to create a variance of surface and texture to suggest the patina of time and the gesture of excavation.

'Symbols of Significance' oil on canvas

'Small Burnt Offering 1' mixed media on wooden block