'Dynamic seascapes proving convincingly that watercolour's can easily be as powerful as oil.'

'Attacking the paper with the ferocity of a rabid beast' the North East based artist captures the raw, unforgiving power of the sea. Magnificent waves cascade into each other with palpable force, sending showers of foam in every direction. Of course such an epic subject deserves plenty of wall space, and, accordingly Skill's best works are also his biggest.'

'Ellen MacArther would probably think twice about getting into a boat if she saw these.'

Quotes from a Review by Christopher Collett for the Metro.

 

At eight feet by four, the main seascapes were a huge technical challenge. Like the previous exhibition at the arts centre, my aim was to challenge the public's ideas about watercolour painting.

This was watercolour painting at its most exciting. An experience I am keen to repeat in the future.

The first of two shows working in co-ordination with Newcastle Arts Centre that aimed to challenge the public's perception of watercolour. Beginning to feel type cast as a seascape artist, I declined the initial invitation to produce a show of my seascape work and opted to paint and draw images inspired in part from my childhood and adult day dreaming.

When I chose the title 'The Emperor's New Clothes' it was intended to state to the public that I was willing to be judged by their opinions. Their version of what they thought the artwork said was as valid as my own. To make this point more plain I courted the opinions of the young who, like the boy in the fairy tale, would in all likelihood speak their minds with devastating honesty. This was done by loaning paintings to schools with the teachers working with the children to produce written work inspired by the artwork. The childrens' work was then laminated and displayed next to the finished artwork so that the visitor could gauge others reactions to the watercolours.

Public and critical reaction in the press was very positive. I even did a local TV news interview relating to the project. Many visitors spent a good deal of time reading the children's written work and wrote about their delight at their ideas in the visitors book.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those children and teachers who took part in this project.

The exhibition's title 'Mixed emotions' was intended as comment on how many people felt about viewing both the seascape and woodland watercolours which made up the main body of the images in this show. Those who looked at the work commented that I had captured the beauty of the sea and woodland, but also the power of the forces of nature which brings that slightly unnerving aspect to looking at the sea, or walking in woodland.

 

Baltic now famous as an international arts venue, was in its first stages of finding a voice when this exhibition was staged.

I was commissioned by Gateshead Council to record my impressions of the interior and exterior of the derelict flour mill and also to paint the initial demolition of part of the structure and the arrival of the steelwork, prior to the building of the 'cage,' that held the walls in place whilst the new interior was fabricated.

The resulting watercolours were shown alongside photographic imagery of the mill when in operation in the late 1950's and early 1960's. This was intended to jog the memories of workers at the mill, who were asked to have their recollections recorded as a 'sound archive' from which snippets of speech were to be used in the first exhibition by Baltic to be staged later at the Shipley Art Gallery.

 

Held in the Laing Art Gallery's watercolour room this was a selection of early seascape imagery. This coincided with a twelve week series of full day demonstrations I was asked to provide for the gallery, the results of which were also added to the exhibition as 'works in progress'.

This exhibition was the second leg of a show that originated at the Hancock Museum. At this point in time I was surfing and felt that my work could have an impact to help draw attention to the poor state of our coastal waters. I had seen the pollution first hand.

With the co-operation of the Marine Conservation Society and Surfers Against Sewage, up to date information about pollution was included in the exhibition space.

My intention was that the viewer's admiration for the sea's beauty would make the accompanying literature have greater impact and would perhaps make some visitors keen to help make a difference by adding their support to the two organizations.

The Hancock Museum is a natural history centre. They were happy to have an educative element at the core of the exhibition and also felt that sea pollution was a subject they wanted to help draw the public's attention to.

The curator of South Sheilds museum and art gallery was impressed with the exhibition at the Hancock and requested that the work be given a second showing a few months later.