SIMON PALMER 4 – 19 MAY 2017
In assoc iat i on wi t h J HW F INE ART
PORTLAND G ALLE RY 3 BENNET STREET T E L E P H O N E 020 7493 1888
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LONDON SW1A 1RP
EMAIL jenny@portlandgallery.com
www.portlandgallery.com Front cover: The Tithe Barn Watercolour 25 x 24 ins Cat. no.24
SIMON PALMER – AN INTERVIEW with Jenny Goodwin
JG:
What is it about the Yorkshire landscape in particular that inspires you?
JG:
Can you tell me about the technical process of making your work?
SP:
I was born in Yorkshire and there is Yorkshire blood in my veins from my mother’s side. But I grew up in south-east London as my father’s job with British Rail took him south: and I went on to study in Surrey. In 1976 I went on holiday to Lastingham, on the North York Moors above Kirkbymoorside. It was one of the most defining moments in my life. After that I became increasingly restless to leave the quaint Home Counties and pursue painting in a more robust landscape. So I moved up to Yorkshire in 1977. My whole working life has been in the north.
SP:
Watercolour is very immediate. The pen and ink gives me guidelines but also textures. The winter twigs and branches I treat almost like cross-hatching. My intense pen work is influenced by Graham Sutherland’s monochrome etchings which were in turn inspired by Samuel Palmer.
JG:
Was there a pivotal moment when you decided to follow your passion for landscape painting?
SP:
In my final year of a graphic design course I was specialising in book illustration. I had covered all the criteria and was growing bored and slightly disillusioned so my tutors encouraged me to go and paint landscapes.
I use Arches 640 GSM, 100% cotton watercolour paper which is as thick as cardboard so I don’t have to waste time stretching the paper to stop it buckling (a process I found pretty tedious at art school). The paper is textured which you can play to your advantage when applying the washes. JG:
As well as an artist, you are also a writer. What do you write about? Does it relate to your art?
SP:
In the summer you will find me gardening and in the winter I write. I have had a couple of books published. I think that it is finishing a piece of writing that I find the most satisfying. I have recently written a monologue about a woman going through different phases of her life. I also read every day before I start work. It’s partly the routine I have developed for myself, along with listening to Radio 3, but I love reading and comparing writing styles.
JG:
You have a keen interest in gardening, is this reflected in your work?
SP:
Gardening is not reflected in my work but I enjoy it, again for the creative process. I do lose plants because of the climate up here. We are 700ft above sea level and the wind can blow hard over the Pennines. Plants have to be robust but it’s a joy to see that they have survived the winter. This is a good time of year. Like with my paintings, I don’t go for vibrant colours, I go for design and textures and watch the plants grow.
JG:
How do you view the future of the English Countryside?
SP:
A political question! Landscape is always changing. Farming technology for one thing; robotic tractors are not far off I’m sure. I am painting the landscape as it is now. The grouse moors now so tranquil 150 years ago were frenetic with mining for iron ore and I think coal in some areas. Spoil heaps are still visible despite the invasive growth of bracken. This human interaction with the land around me is what I find forever fascinating. Usually, but not always, it’s for the better. But it’s an ongoing process so I’m still making new discoveries and gaining new insights: I aim to bring these into my latest works.
I had recently discovered Samuel Palmer (no relation) and his spiritual home was Shoreham in Kent, just a short train ride for me from Bromley. I followed in Palmer’s footsteps and so began my pursuit of landscape JG:
The immensely detailed depiction of trees is an ongoing theme in your work; what is their special significance to you?
SP:
Most people, I believe, have a passion for trees for many reasons: their serenity, their age, their shapes, forms and textures. I see trees as enormous organic forms seeking energy from the subterranean geology below the topsoil. The older a tree becomes, the greater its shapes and distortions – limbs torn off by autumn storms for example. Sycamore and ash predominate in this area - oak and beech less so; but beech would have to be my favourite.
JG:
Signposts and road markings are present in many of your paintings. What are they telling us?
SP:
Human activity is ever present just out of the picture in my work. Figures have historically appeared in my paintings. They told quirky stories, a reference to my training as an illustrator. Now that I have completed my 40 years apprenticeship I have done with figures but they have influenced the landscapes I find interesting. Our hamlet is a five minute walk from miles of bleak moorland. It is beautiful and inspiring but I find that the textures of cultivated, agricultural countryside have more exciting possibilities to explore. The road signs are part of this land. They tell a story and also usefully complete a composition; and the road markings lead your eye into and around the picture.
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Near Farndale Watercolour 23 x 29 ins Catalogue no.19
Gale Bank Plantation Watercolour 34 x 27 ins Catalogue no.1
High Sutton Watercolour 27 x 24 ins Catalogue no.20
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Five Lane Ends Watercolour 23 x 30 ins Catalogue no.18
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West Field Bridleway Watercolour 21 x 23 ins Catalogue no.31
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Turn Right at the Top Watercolour 30 x 24 ins Catalogue no.14
9
Bridging the Ure Watercolour 20 x 39 ins Catalogue no.9
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11
Swinney Beck Ford Watercolour 25 x 22 ins Catalogue no.28
12
Cowling Lane Watercolour 26 x 38 ins Catalogue no.2
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A Different Territory Watercolour 27 x 28 ins Catalogue no.13
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Baxton’s Road Watercolour 21 x 28 ins Catalogue no.25
15
Behind Firs Farm Watercolour 25 x 28 ins Catalogue no.16
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17
Shadowed Lancet Lane Watercolour 35 x 18 ins Catalogue no.22
Ryedale Watercolour 18 x 32 ins Catalogue no.26
Crossing to Thirn Watercolour 26 x 17 ins Catalogue no.34
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Baxton’s Grange Watercolour 22 x 32 ins Catalogue no.15
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National Park Boundary Watercolour 21 x 37 ins Catalogue no.10
Haregill Lane Watercolour 36 x 27 ins Catalogue no.3
Above Ellingstring Watercolour 21 x 27 ins Catalogue no.27
Sandhill Plantation Watercolour 31 x 27 ins Catalogue no.5
The Ash Tree Watercolour 25 x 19 ins Catalogue no.33
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Into the Earth (Revisited) Watercolour 22 x 20 ins Catalogue no.35
27
Grindleford Watercolour 27 x 18 ins
Warthermaske Watercolour 27 x 29 ins
Catalogue no.30
Catalogue no.8
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29
The White Wall Watercolour 31 x 26 ins
Exposed Faรงade Watercolour 11 x 28 ins
Catalogue no.7
Catalogue no.37
Towards Howe Farm Watercolour 20 x 31 ins Catalogue no.23
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The Stone Masons Watercolour 34 x 25 ins Catalogue no.4
Sleningford Estate Watercolour 25 x 28 ins Catalogue no.17
34
Late Light Watercolour 27 x 28 ins Catalogue no.12
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From Settle to Carlisle Watercolour 16 x 32 ins
After The Storm Watercolour 28 x 27 ins
Catalogue no.29
Catalogue no.11
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CATALOGUE 1
Gale Bank Plantation
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
34 x 27
25
Baxton's Road
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
21 x 28
2
Cowling Lane
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
26 x 38
26
Ryedale
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
18 x 32
3
Haregill Lane
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
36 x 27
27
Above Ellingstring
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
21 x 27
4
The Stone Masons
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
34 x 25
28
Swinney Beck Ford
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
25 x 22
5
Sandhill Plantation
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
31 x 27
29
From Settle to Carlisle
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
16 x 32
6
Hanghow Lane, Braithwaite
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
22 x 38
30
Grindleford
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
27 x 18
7
The White Wall
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
31 x 26
31
West Field Bridleway
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
21 x 23
8
Warthermaske
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
27 x 29
32
The Angered Storm
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
25 x 19
9
Bridging the Ure
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
20 x 39
33
The Ash Tree
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
25 x 19
10
National Park Boundary
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
21 x 37
34
Crossing to Thirn
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
26 x 17
11
After the Storm
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
28 x 27
35
Into the Earth (Revisited)
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
22 x 20
12
Late Light
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
27 x 28
36
Away from Newby
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
11 x 28
13
A Different Territory
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
27 x 28
37
Exposed Faรงade
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
11 x 28
14
Turn Right at the Top
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
30 x 24
38
A Pastoral Scene
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
9 x 32
15
Baxton's Grange
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
22 x 32
16
Behind Firs Farm
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
25 x 28
17
Sleningford Estate
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
25 x 28
18
Five Lane Ends
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
23 x 30
19
Near Farndale
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
23 x 29
E&OE
20
High Sutton
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
27 x 24
The catalogue features a selection of the works that are to be included in the exhibition.
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Cote Lane
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
19 x 34
All measurements are in inches, height before width.
22
Shadowed Lancet Lane
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
35 x 18
Images of all the works to be featured may be viewed on our website:
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Towards Howe Farm
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
20 x 31
www.portlandgallery.com
24
The Tithe Barn
Watercolour, Ink and Gouache
25 x 24
Works are for sale prior to the opening of the exhibition; please refer to the enclosed price list.
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SIMON PALMER Simon Palmer was born in Yorkshire in 1956, and graduated from art school in 1977. He has exhibited extensively in solo and group exhibitions since 1980. From 1995 – 2013, he held ten one-man exhibitions in London with JHW Fine Art. He is now exclusively represented by Portland Gallery, where his first show was in 2015.
In 2004, a retrospective museum show Territories of the Imagination took place at the Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate; he also later curated Palmer’s Choice at the same venue. He has shown work on several occasions at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, where, in 2007, he won the Turner/Winsor & Newton Watercolour Award. Other notable group exhibitions include the National Trust centenary exhibition; British landscape painting in the twentieth century at Crane Kalman Gallery; Dreamers of landscape at Bohun Gallery; Art & Yorkshire: Turner to Hockney at the Mercer Art Gallery; and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera exhibition. Simon Palmer is an honorary member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. In 2016, he was appointed to the position of Visiting Professor in Fine Art at the University of Suffolk.
The monograph The Art of Simon Palmer was published in 2011. His has received extensive press coverage in magazines and newspapers, and his exhibitions have been widely reviewed. Previous catalogues have included introductory essays by a mixture of writers, critics, art historians and a fellow artist: Alan Bennett, Martin Drury, Tom Flynn, Iain Gale, Lynne Green, Ronald Maddox, Elspeth Moncrieff, Sumaya Partner and Jane Sellars. He has written and illustrated a number of books, including Pebbles on a Beach and two guidebooks for Salt’s Mill, Saltaire. His work is frequently reproduced on book and magazine covers, and used on calendars, in brochures and programmes.
Palmer’s work is held in many private collections in Europe, America, Australia and Japan. Salt’s Mill holds a large collection of his work; other collections include the National Trust, the Council for the Protection of Rural England, Historic House Hotels, Mercer Art Gallery and the Penn Club, London. Simon Palmer lives and works in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.