7 minute read
Live Ribble Valley Issue 136 October 2022
URBAN LANDSCAPES
Ribble Valley artist Simon Blackley had a ‘creative silence’ for three decades. Having resumed painting four years ago, he is now enjoying considerable success
Set to hold his first solo exhibition, artist Simon Blackley’s work has been highly acclaimed. His controversial subject matter often focuses on urban landscapes and homeless people, sleeping rough on the streets of Manchester and London.
When he began painting again in 2018, after a break of more than three decades, he started painting rural landscapes but as he recalls: “I felt painting landscapes was an acceptable start and a good return to painting. However, I needed to prove to myself I could be an artist.”
When he left Blackburn College at the age of 18 Simon abandoned his dream of becoming an artist and he began a career in textile design. With work and family commitments he didn’t pick up a paint brush until decades later: “It was quite a gap in terms of creative silence,” he says.
“My first painting seemed to feel like I was emptying all the creative information that had accumulated over the years. It was semi-abstract and a real expression of how I felt at the time. Looking back there was an element of finding my feet.”
Simon went on to do 12 landscapes of varying sizes – of locations across the Ribble Valley from Longridge Fell to Pendle Hill and entered the 2018 Open Exhibition at Clitheroe Castle.
Enjoying considerable success at the exhibition, he went on to sell the original paintings as well as limited edition prints and he decided to take studio space in the heart of Clitheroe.
“At home your discipline disappears so I knew if I was going to paint seriously, I needed a studio. It took a few months before I really settled into the space and starting painting,” adds Simon.
“While I work in textiles, the painting has become much more than a hobby.”
In 2020 Simon changed direction and began to concentrate on portrait painting:
“I felt I needed to prove my ability to myself, so I started experimenting and tackled the complex subject of portrait painting.
“While I had numerous failures, I approached it in a very disciplined way. The likeness has to be there and it’s the process of measuring that captures the person, seeing your mistakes and correcting them is the key. Don’t allow your brain to kid you, paint what you see.
“Finding portraits to paint was quite difficult as we were in lockdown and I was desperate to find subject matter. The cities were empty but for homeless people sleeping on the streets.
“I had to travel to the textile showroom in London with work, which was permitted at the time as it was classed as business.”
Seeing the homeless people on the streets gave Simon the idea of capturing them on camera – then working them into a painting. It was something that resulted in him creating a large body of highly acclaimed work.
“The photographs I took gave me different ideas. It’s only when you remove the public from the streets do you really see the homeless community, I didn’t want to just show the sadness but somehow highlight a thread of happiness.
“It was quite an eye-opener. Some people had stories to tell, of how they came to be sleeping rough. I took many photographs and when you look into their eyes there is a great depth and I tried to interpret that and capture it in my paintings.
“On one occasion I took a long distance shot of a man sitting on the pavement. He had the cleanest pair of Nike trainers which seemed so out of context with the
rest of his clothes and when I started to paint him the trainers seemed to be the focal point of the canvas, they were so white against the backdrop it makes you question the image.
“There is a lot of information around each painting, from mark application, colour and in some cases, the under painting left in view – none are perfect as my style is very loose, which suits the subject.”
A number of the large-format paintings in Simon’s ‘Home Street Home’ collection have been kept back to exhibit in his solo show.
“The paintings are a metre square, oil on canvas so it’s been quite a learning curve working in large format for me,” he says.
Inspired by the success of this work, Simon has continued with the urban theme: “It’s a theme I particularly like. I recently walked from one end of Blackburn to the other taking photographs of industrial estates and car parks and what struck me was the intensity of the blocks of colours within that environment.
“Two industrial rubbish bins caught my eye – one was lime green the other bright yellow. They were in a particularly awful part of an estate, but the light and the shadow made the painting work.”
His love of urban scenes was reflected in a painting Simon completed in the Paint Padiham competition, as he recalls: “All the artists taking part were painting the high street, which has recently been really smartened up.
“I found a bin and a street cone in a back alleyway – the deep shadows and shade were amazing. I don’t like to be traditional I like to find an element of ugliness that through the painting, show signs of beauty.
“Very few artists feature cars in their work, they are regarded as an eyesore on the landscape as they are notoriously difficult to paint. I decided to learn how to successfully paint cars observing the reflections and symmetry.”
Entering Paint Garstang this year, Simon won the competition with his painting of Market Square, featuring cars on the high street. The painting was praised for its technical execution and keen observation.
Simon is also set to appear on TV’s Sky Landscape Artist of the Year, which is to be aired in the New Year: “I can’t say too much about it, but we were tasked with painting the North Pier at Blackpool. It was quite daunting, but I was very
calculated and spent a lot of time, measuring the perspective beforehand then approached the canvas with the paint – my painting process is fast which given the time restraints proved to be an asset. It suits my style to work quickly.”
Using a square brush and palette knife to apply paint to canvas, Simon is a great admirer of British painter Lucien Freud and French artist Francis Bard.
“I love the way Francis adds layers and at the same time tunes in detail – it fascinates me how this process works. I look at his paintings and find myself bringing his techniques to my palette and canvas. His works just amazes me.
“When I was 18 and studying art, my work was very detailed and a little contrived, but I feel I have found my style or maybe a comfortable technique that I can continue to build upon. The key for me is looking at something and capturing it correctly with very considered brush strokes. It’s often what’s left out of a painting that’s important.
“Every time I paint, it’s a step further, refining my technique. There’s still so much to explore in the urban landscape.” •
Simon Blackley’s solo exhibition at Atelier Arts, Harris Court Wellgate, Clitheroe, begins with an open evening on 4th November 7pm-9pm and runs for two weeks
