'This branch of the 'Near Black' series successfully fuses my expressions of painting and art with my research into colour theory and the objecthood of a painting whilst also referencing my love of landscape and the void as part of  an expanded field.'

"Near Black Mirror", above right, is the first painting of this new series which has allowed me to enjoy the progressing my work further  into the idea of paintings as object. This is something that my work with spatial paintings on canvas has been doing for years, but I am now exploring this idea in a slightly new form by working with impasto paint onto think plywood blocks. The block themselves have a very different substance and presence from the the works on shaped canvases. They have the tactility of children's building block, I want the observer not to just look at these works on the wall but to want to take them down, to handle them and explore them as a multi-sensory experience.

"First Grey Near Black", above centre, is the second new painting in the 'Near Black series' painted on plywood block. This is a two stage painting which began life as a very similar painting to "Near Black Mirror"; elements of the Near Black layers are still visible through the 'breaks' in the upper layers of paint. Subsequent depths of a new colour, 'First Grey', were built up on top of the 'Near Black' to produce a semi-hazy grey void which has the depth of a land or skyscape.

"Yellow Ochre on Near Black", above left,  is the third new painting in the 'Near Black series' painted on plywood blocks. Once again this is a two stage painting which began life as a very similar painting to "Near Black Mirror"; elements of the Near Black layers are still visible through the 'breaks' in the upper layers of paint. For the longest time I agonised about how to advance this painting; both of the previous paintings in the series were created in an objective way, that is the colour combinations followed rules that were beyond my control. The Blue and Red components of my palette had already been used to create Near Black, which meant that the final layers of this painting could only be rendered by using pure Yellow Ochre to both balance the palette symmetry whilst also finalising the colour and tonal harmonies which the painting required. For me this has perhaps completed the first phase of this series.

Normally I would price these works at £350.00 each, but to comply with the ethos of #artistsupportpledge , which is for works under £200.00, and my own #artistsponsorshipprogram , which on included works I apply a 50% discount, all three pieces will be added to the portfolio at £175.00 each, £300.00 for two or £450 for all three, plus p&p. If you would more details or are interested in adding to or starting your own collection with these works please contact me through this website, via Facebook messenger or email atholehousestudio@gmail.com .

"Yellow Ochre on Near Black" is the third new painting in the 'Near Black series' painted on plywood blocks. This branch of the series successfully fuses my expressions of painting and art with my research into colour theory and the objecthood of a painting whilst also referencing my love of landscape as an expanded field.

Once again this is a two stage painting which began life as a very similar painting to "Near Black Mirror"; elements of the Near Black layers are still visible through the 'breaks' in the upper layers of paint. For the longest time I agonised about how to advance this painting; both of the previous paintings in the series were created in an objective way, that is the colour combinations followed rules that were beyond my control. However as I progressed with this piece the only way forward appeared to be in a subjective way, that was for me to make specific controlling decisions about subsequent colour mixes. This was not something that I wanted to do at this stage in the series; I really thought that there must be at least one more objective step to be tried before I allowed my own subjectivity to take over. And of course there was  in fact there are 2, but that's another painting. In many ways working with oil paint save paintings when an artist works in these kinds of processes, the prolonged drying time required to work with oils also allows for an extended thinking time, therefore eliminating any potential errors which may occur due to hasty decision making. During the drying time allowed for the first layers of this painting I have been able to consider what the final steps towards its completion should be. 'Near Black' is of course created by mixing Prussian Blue with Alizarin Crimson to create the darkest of purples, however using these to hues in this way does open the the question to how should the third hue in my 'Zornist' palette, Yellow Ochre, be used?

In "First Grey Near Black" the Yellow Ochre is used to temper the Near Black to First Grey,  which I found to be an elegant solution to that particular painting. What I needed here was an equally elegant and indeed simple solution to complete this painting. And indeed in the final analysis it was that simple, The Blue and Red components of my palette had already been used to create Near Black, which meant that the final layers of this painting could only be rendered by using pure Yellow Ochre to both balance the palette symmetry whilst also finalising the colour and tonal harmonies which the painting required. For me this has perhaps completed the first phase of this series.

Today I'm adding a new series to my blog posts; 'The Constant Library'. The idea follows on from a conversation that I had recently considering which books have had and continue to have the greatest affect my life in a variety of different ways. These are the books I can't live without and whenever possible I have a copy of with me wherever I am in the world.

I'm beginning with the book that has probably had a greater impact on my life as an artist that any other; 'Species of Spaces and Other Pieces' by Georges Perec. The book is a series of essays and and reminiscences that exemplify Perec's thought processes and writing techniques. As a member of the OuLiPo, workshop for potential literature, Perec's writing is both challenging and thought provoking; never more so in my opinion than in the short essay 'Approaches to What?'. The text challenges us to see the world differently, something that as an artist has become my touchstone, as has the book.

To read the text of 'Approaches to What?' please follow the link here to the blog page by Mark Ingham.

Tonight from my back catalogue of work I'm adding another reduced price older piece to my #artistsupportpledge portfolio. "White night" is another piece from the 'Mauve Skies' series which I completed soon after opening Athole House Studio in Scotland and another piece with the same direct connection to my current 'Near Black' series.

"White night", acrylic on floating board, 25.5 x 30.5cm, 2018, £50 plus p & p. #artistsupportpledge

If you would like more details or are interested in adding to or starting your collection with this work please contact me through this website, via Facebook messenger or email atholehousestudio@gmail.com .

So I'm returning to my back catalogue of work tonight to add another reduced price older piece to my #artistsupportpledge portfolio. Today I'm it's "Mauve and gold"; another piece I completed in Scotland soon after opening Athole House Studio and another piece with a direct connection to my current 'Near Black' series. It is another abstract/skyscape and therefore shares that heritage with the "Near Black" series.

"Mauve and gold", acrylic on floating board, 25.5 x 30.5cm, 2018, £50 plus p & p. #artistsupportpledge

If you would like more details or are interested in adding to or starting your collection with this work please contact me through this website, via Facebook messenger or email atholehousestudio@gmail.com .

I'm currently going through my back catalogue of work to add a few older pieces to my #artistsupportpledge portfolio at reduced prices. Today I'm adding "Mauve Void"; one of the first pieces I completed in Scotland after opening Athole House Studio and a piece with a direct connection to my current 'Near Black' series. This painting is one from a series called 'Mauve Skies' which refers to the colour of the sky on the West Coast of Scotland just as the sun goes down. It is another abstract/skyscape and therefore shares that heritage with the "Near Black" series.

"Mauve Void", acrylic on floating board, 25.5 x 30.5cm, 2018, £50 plus p & p. #artistsupportpledge

If you would like more details or are interested in adding to or starting your collection with this work please contact me through this website, via Facebook messenger or email atholehousestudio@gmail.com .