Noted landscape painter and respected artist Paul Parker opened his latest exhibition last weekend.
Entitled ’Island of Contrasts’, the large collection of new work focuses on the play of light and shadow, and how they can affect even the smallest of details in the landscape at different times of the day.
For this new exhibition, gable ends of buildings picked out by bright morning sunshine, silhouetted trees and details normally hidden in shadow make up the subject matter in the paintings.
’All the pictures hopefully have that same feel of light and shade, as that is the subject of the exhibition,’ said Paul.
’It is what I was looking for in my pictures. Regardless of the subject, I was looking at the contrast, and the play of the light and the shade in the images.
’That was my main interest for this exhibition.
’I’m a bit of "drama queen". I like the contrasts.’
Paul was once employed as a dark room assistant with the Isle of Man Examiner during the 1980s, printing black and white photographs, and it is there he started to understand and appreciate the play of light, shadow and contrast that goes into creating a striking and captivating image.
’Much like taking a photograph, it is all about being at the right place at the right time to see the best light on a subject, no matter what the subject is.
’Occasionally I’ll paint outside but, more often than not, I’ll do drawings and sketches, and work from them.
’You produce a lot of sketches at different times of the day, and these go into producing the final picture.’
Paul considers himself a ’Jack of all trades’ when it comes to painting, and he likes to try out as many exhibition features many different mediums and styles as possible when creating his artwork, including pen and ink, water colours, acrylics and oils.
’I have been told that it looks like my exhibitions have been created by four different people,’ he said.
’But here there are four different mediums, and you use them to do different things, so why wouldn’t they look different? It’s horses for courses, but it’s good to have a change in styles.
’I liked working with pen and ink this time. But you can’t beat the charm of a watercolour, if you get it right.’
The exhibition opened on Saturday afternoon, at the Hodgson Loom Gallery, Laxey Woollen Mills and went on public display from Monday, November 5.
by Mike Wade
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