Art & Culture
ARTIST AT WORK
No.27: Pearl Gatehouse, Two Pink Roses, Oil on board, 60 x 40cm, £600
A
s an artist I try to be an interpreter, illuminating and conveying to the viewer my visual experience of nature. I love painting seascapes and wide Dorset landscapes, with a feel of fresh air and a sense of freedom. Recent restrictions however, have led me to discover in my garden and locality new sources of inspiration; a desire to celebrate the rich colour of a briefly flowering peonie, pops of colour in a winter garden and the poetic, fragile beauty in imperfection; fragments of dry beech leaves, broken twigs and fading petals. Drawing, mark-making and pleinair painting, the recording of form and sensation, are basic to my practice. Back in my studio and gallery space, the act of painting becomes an alchemy of sustained concentration, charcoal and juicy oil paints. Pots full of brushes and rags for wiping back complete the mix. 8 | Sherborne Times | February 2021
I prefer to paint on a well-primed, resistant surface, and start by lightly drawing out a carefully considered composition, which may change as the work progresses. Choices of colour and tone are integral to conveying the atmosphere or sensation of my original experience. Paint may need to be applied over several days and at different stages of drying, and some areas wiped back to retain translucency. A painting may need to be put aside and revisited over time before it is finished. Each work is unique and, I hope, provides a source of delight and discovery to the interested viewer. pearlgatehouse.com Work by Pearl will be available to view at her exhibition ‘Talking Lines and Colours’ at Shaftesbury Arts Centre, SP7 8AR, 17th - 23rd March.
