Each month we will be highlighting and celebrating the work and achievements of one of our Artist Members. This month Brian Burton gives us an insight into his work and creative journey.
How would you describe your art?
I am a contemporary semi-abstract landscape artist who sees himself in the tradition of British Romantic painters. My paintings are all about atmosphere and the ‘sublime’ in nature: “A quality of greatness that inspires awe and wonder”: TATE
What inspires your art?
I am surrounded by the incredible diversity of the North Yorkshire landscape, from its stone walls and tangled hedgerows to it’s geology and currently by it’s waterfalls. I need look no further!
Why do you paint?
I have always painted. I am coming up to half a century of creating images in one form or another, much of it as a textile designer. To me, it is an innate need too strong to resist.
Where do you start?
ALL of my paintings begin in my sketchbooks; they are my lifeblood, I am never without one beside me. To me they are visual archaeology, a form of shorthand information gathering about a scene. I never commit to painting a subject until I have undertaken extensive research, either by frequent visits to, walks around, sketching or often by simple absorption from just being there. I can sometimes sit for hours taking in the atmosphere, almost in a meditative state, before putting pencil to paper. The mental notes as well as the physical marks result in my total immersion in the spirit of the place. I carry a small backpack with the minimum of tools; black and white acrylic paint, a variety of pencils, sometimes some ink and perhaps the odd extra colour. I rarely use a camera to record unless it is somewhere I cannot easily revisit.
Which artists inspire your work?
Inspiration is different from aspiration: I could aspire to achieve the greatness of Turner, Cezanne or Monet but I find inspiration comes from artists with whom I find a connection; not necessarily in style or skill more likely with their ethos. Contemporary examples would be Kurt Jackson, David Mankin or the late James Morrison.
And finally, where can your work be seen?
Much of my work is in private collections in the U.K. Europe and the U.S.A. but I have a website: brianburton.art on which you can see my finished paintings plus an Instagram account: courtyard311 where I post works in progress and news of events that I am taking part in.
Throughout July 2024 Brian will be hosting his ‘Shape of Water’ exhibition
each Saturday and Sunday from 11.00 to 3.00 in his home studio at the
Old Coach House, Hetton, Skipton BD23 6LU.
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