Neil Davies - Weathering the Storm

N E I L D AV I E S

w e at h e r i n g t h e s to r m 13.06.20 - 25.07.20

those who are familiar with my work will know that it is fired by my intense connection with the landscape and the vagaries of nature:

the spark for every painting is lit by something i have seen or observed on my

wanderings on the penwith peninsula, particularly along the north coast near my home in hellesveor. this collection of work is no different; what has changed, however, is that nature has suddenly been pushed to the forefront of our lives, and now more than ever has a crucial role to play in both our physical and mental health. thousands of us are looking to the great outdoors for our daily exercise, a relief from the boredom of life cooped up inside, a release of pent-up energy, but it is more than that. nature has a way of putting things into perspective, of making us forget our anxieties and everyday concerns, for it represents a stability and a sense of perpetuity in these days of chaos and uncertainty. this collection of work begins last september, when summer was fading and the colours of autumn were glowing quietly on the moors and coastal paths. a flash of orange in the rusty bracken; light bouncing off water puddled on a peaty track; pink and purple heather dotted on a distant carn or hillside

– all these can

be the inspiration for an entire painting. during winter,

I often find myself on a clifftop or at the sea’s edge, watching the wind whip up the waves, or a

storm heading towards land then drifting out to sea again.typical things which can catch my eye are sudden shafts of sunlight breaking through a stormy sky, or bouncing off the light-silvered edges of the waves; up on the high moors, bleached winter grasses wave and rustle, creating an inland sea of their own. on this far western peninsula, sunshine, rain and storms will often battle with each other, offering a kaleidoscope of colours and cloud forms in a matter of minutes. this spring, the birdsong seems louder, the colours more intense, and after months of rain and grey skies, the sudden days of sunshine and subsequent bursts of new growth and colour offer glimmers of normality and a sense of hope. the gorse is out, radiating its intense yellow across the landscape and mingling with the milky white blackthorn blossom; green shoots are emerging, the trees are in bud, birds are nest-building, buzzards wheeling and mewing overhead. nature is enduring, its beauty resilient, offering us a sense that in one area at least, all is as it should be, and we can take comfort from that. many are discovering, or rediscovering, the quiet energy and joy of the natural world around them, gaining distraction, solace, a sense of calm and sometimes wonder

–

and all for free.

hopefully when the world

returns to somewhere near normal, this rekindled connection will continue; we will remember how nature helped us and strive to protect it in return. in the meantime, i would like to share this collection of work with you, in the hope that my paintings evoke echoes of all that is wonderful about our natural surroundings, and inspire you to explore further afield when we are able.

1. ‘breakthrough’ a dark and gloomy winter’s day, bitterly cold, and i am beginning to wonder why i came out today when a shaft of light cuts through the cloud blanket, catching my eye and lighting the spark for another painting.

2. ‘clouds across the sun’ a walk across the beach at perranporth, the air crisp and breezy and the sun bright, but it doesn’t last. clouds roll in, eclipsing the sun and darkening the beach.

Sun escapes for a few seconds, creating a kaleidoscope of colours in

the sky.

3. ‘blue fusion’ on the shoreline again, storm-watching. everything appears out of focus as the elements of sea and sky fuse together in a hazy blend of blues. one small flash of light, gold bouncing off a wave, catches my attention, a glimmer of light in a dark and stormy landscape.

4. ‘the last glimmer’ mid-afternoon in winter, and the light is fading already. tide’s out, exposing shelves of rocks and shallow rockpools. the sky is gradually darkening, one flash of yellow lighting up a patch of rocks and water.

5. ‘a wash of gold’ late autumn, at the end of a rare sunny day. the sun sets slowly, bathing everything in an intense gold and orange glow.

6. ‘light and dark’ morning, looking towards godrevy; an approaching bank of storm-clouds blocks out the light, now only visible over the distant headland. the sea darkens beneath the clouds, though there are still glimmers of light on the wave edges.

7. ‘priest cove on fire’ priest cove in autumn, and the sky is on fire with one of the most intense sunsets i have seen. back-lit by this deep orangey-red, the sea glows copper, the gentle waves like molten gold. fishing boats pulled up on the shore cower against the rocks, small and insignificant. nature in all its glory.

8. ‘from the cliff path’ a winter walk on the coast path, stopping to look across the waves and out to sea. the water is a palette of deep, saturated blues, choppy and restless, the clouds dark and threatening rain. time to head home.

9. ‘falling light’ walking along the shoreline one evening at porthmeor cove near zennor. the light is rapidly fading and dusk isn’t far off, but the colours are breath-taking, the light cascading out of the sky and diving into the waves. a magical atmosphere, though no sign of a mermaid….

10. ‘midwinter’ bitterly cold, looking out to sea over the wall from the coast path at priest cove. local radio warned against going too close to the sea today, but i am drawn by the drama of the storm. hard to stay upright at times, and my hat keeps blowing off. the sun breaks through and salutes me in a flash on the horizon, then disappears as suddenly as it came.

11. ‘a dusting of snow’ snow in cornwall is rare enough for me to get excited about it every time it happens, so early morning finds me striding out, carn galver in the distance, to survey the landscape after this admittedly very light snowfall.

I

am not disappointed: although the

snow is insignificant, the change is not, and i have a new, frozen and silent landscape to explore.

12. ‘twin rocks on a wintry day’

13. ‘winter waves, the enys’

walking along the beach on a stormy day in midwinter, bitterly cold and windy, atmosphere charged with the power of nature.

following a walk to portheras via beach cove and back, standing by pendeen lighthouse looking over the enys, a large and dra-

the sky is a patchwork of bruise-like colours, dark purples and yellows, indigo and black, rain lashing down over a whipped-up

matic oddly shaped outcrop. a fierce wind whips up the waves which crash against the rocks, and out at sea sheets of rain tumble

sea. the beach is scoured of shingle and shells, leaving bare sand and two stark rocks, almost identical, alone on the shoreline.

out of a dark sky, a sudden shaft of light escaping to light up a patch of sea and cliffs.

14. ‘rolling clouds’ nearing sunset, land’s end peninsula at its most magical; as the clouds roll in, the sunlight squeezes through and spreads along the horizon, separating land and sea with a wide band of gold, the light show in the sky reflected in the sea below.

15. ‘grazing horses, woonsmith’

16. ‘through the bracken to botallack manor’

early spring, walking on the downs at woonsmith. the path takes me past this farmstead, squatting amidst the long,

exploring round the crowns, looking up through the winter bracken undergrowth it is botallack manor which

bleached grasses which wave and whisper in the wind. horses graze contentedly in a nearby field, wrapped in their

catches my eye. dating from 1681 or earlier, wesley preached from its gardens, and in the 1970s series of ‘poldark’

bright coats against the chill.

it was used for scenes of ross’s house, nampara.

Now however, it stands empty, waiting for a new role.

17. ‘alone on the moors’ squelching along a peaty track on white downs, after weeks of heavy rain, on my own with the sodden bracken, the paths more like streams beneath my feet. the clouds clear for a moment, a patch of blue appears, and a sudden shaft of light beams down, ding dong backlit on the horizon.

19. ‘spring gorse, granite and blackthorn’ a bright, warm sunny day in april, blue sky with one or two streaks of white cloud. the hedges are a riot of colour, the sun catching the quartz in the granite, making it sparkle against the white oriental style blossom of the blackthorn, gorse springing out of last year’s coppery bracken.

18. ‘ennis bluebells and rhododendrons’ hot, sunny day in late spring, my first visit to ennis gardens. not a fan of laid-out gardens usually as i prefer wild

20. ‘heralds of spring’

places, but this is different. nature has been allowed a bit of a free rein, with only minimal and necessary interven-

mid may, and the late spring hedges are a tangled profusion of coconut-scented gorse, bluebells and campion

tion, so that it is glorious but untamed. the bluebells where. respect to the garden after all.

– proper english ones - are stunning, and their scent is every-

scattered beneath in the long grass. no wind today, and the silence is noticeable occasional pop of a gorse bud. perfect.

– just skylarks, buzzards and the

21. ‘in the shadows’ conquer downs in february

22. ‘the middle of nowhere’ –

another stormy day, rain slanting down. this old farmhouse crouches sullenly in the shadows

high on the moors, the track up to men-an-tol passes the abandoned homestead of coronation cottage and its cluster of

amidst last year’s rusty bracken, tiny windows blinking out at the surrounding moorland. in the distance, a sudden shaft of

dlapidated outbuildings. although isolated and derelict, there is something about it which appeals to me

sunlight breaks through, promising better days to come.

contented lives lived here, away from it all.

– a sense of hard but

25. ‘part of the landscape’

23. ‘spring colours with belted galloways’ driving along the twisty road from st. ives to zennor, the white ‘belts’ of these galloways reflecting the bright spring sunshine made me pull over. very blustery out of the car, lots of scudding cloud

- sun comes and goes like someone turning the lights

late winter, up on the moors at conquer downs, and the weather is throwing everything at me

– rain, sleet and a howling

gale. the sky is a maelstrom of dark blue-black, bruised violet and thunder grey, patches of white drifting in occasionally to

on and off, the colours saturated one moment, shaded the next.

lighten it. this old homestead sits stoically amongst the chaos, part of the landscape. it has seen it all before.

24. ‘feeding time’

26. ‘over the wall’

one of my favourite places, the old farmstead of bosporthennis, not far from zennor, never fails to inspire. this farmhouse is no longer inhabited, but the land is still used by a local farmer for his charolais cattle. these munch contentedly from their feeder, completely ignoring us when we walk past them and through their muddy field.

on a circular walk around zennor, the sparkling quartz-speckled granite of this cornish hedge catches my attention. i stop for a minute, looking across the patchwork of fields to the tiny hamlet of lower porthmeor. probably the same view as it was a hundred years ago.

27. ‘up to rosewall hill’ walking up rosewall hill, just across from where i live, following an old granite boundary wall

– sometimes intact, but often just stray chunks of rock. must have taken some building, uphill all the way. there’s a herd of wild ponies up here, not in evidence today.

28. ‘wild and windswept’ walking round woonsmith on a wild and windy day. early spring, but no signs yet of warmth or sunny days

– winter is hanging

around a bit this year. last year’s sodden bracken and bleached grasses dominate the landscape, but this farmhouse is weathering the storm, standing solid against the forces of nature that batter it.

29. ‘yellow grass, puddly track to georgia’ after days of rain, walking across the downs to georgia, braving the elements and keeping a sharp eye on the clouds. the peaty track through the long, yellow rustling grass is dark, lumpy and waterlogged, and

I lose my footing more than once.

cloud clears for a while, blue sky peering through, and the grass is sunlit like a golden sea.

a patch of

30. ‘inside out’ bright spring morning, light streaming in through our large picture window and catching my paintings. the boundaries between inside and outside are blurred for a few minutes, crossing over so that they become one.

31. ‘spring light’

bright spring sunshine pouring through the window, colours lit up and intensified. near the window all is backlit, shapes against the light.

3.

1-4

5- 8

list of works paintings....

1. ‘breakthrough’ 31”x 40”

£3,000

2. ‘clouds across the sun’ 48” x 48”

£4,600

3. ‘blue fusion’ 48”x 48”

£4,600

4. ‘the last glimmer’ 18”x 24”

£1,425

5. ‘a wash of gold’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

6. ‘light and dark’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

7. ‘priest cove on

30”x 32”

£2,400

8. ‘from the cliff path’ 31” x 40”

£3,000

9. ‘falling light’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

10. ‘midwinter’ 48”x 65”

£6,000

11. ‘a dusting of snow’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

12. ‘twin rocks on a wintry day’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

13. ‘winter waves, the enys’ 48”x 48”

£4,600

14. ‘rolling clouds’ 48” x 65”

£6,000

15. ‘grazing horses, woonsmith’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

16. ‘through the bracken to botallack manor’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

17. ‘alone on the moors’ 18”x 24”

£1,425

18. ‘ennis bluebells and rhododendrons’ 18”x 24”

£1,425

19. ‘spring gorse, granite and blackthorn’ 24”x 24”

£1,650

20. ‘heralds of spring’ 48”x 48”

£4.600

21. ‘in the shadows’ 18”x 24”

£1,425

22. ‘the middle of nowhere’ 18”x 24”

£1,425

23. ‘spring colours with belted galloways’ 31”x 40”

£3,000

24. ‘feeding time’ 18”x 24”

£1,425

25. ‘part of the landscape’ 12”x 16”

£850

26. ‘over the wall’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

27. ‘up to rosewall hill’ 12”x 16”

£850

28. ‘wild and windswept’ 18”x 24”

£1,425

29. ‘yellow grass, puddly track to georgia’ 24”x 30”

£1,900

30. ‘inside out’ 36”x 36”

£3,000

31. ‘spring light’ 36” x 36”

£3,000

fire’

ALl works are painted oil on board

drawings

-

1. distant cottages 2. nine maidens 3. over the hedge 4. light snowfall, carn galver 5. rough seas 6. the track from men-an-tol 7. stormlight 8. wheal call, kenidjack ALL DRAWINGS MEASURE 23”X 33”, AND ARE PRICED AT £650

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