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Paintings in your life by Anna
Nov 20, 2019
A painting is whatever you feel it is. It may remind you of something, evoke a memory or mood or it could just be that you love the colour, the contrast, the form.
Paintings in your life
One of the reasons for creating this website was to allow more people to see Colin’s paintings. There are a lot of paintings; in his studio, in his house and of course all those paintings that are now residing in other people’s homes and offices.
I think paintings should be shared and seen so it’s a shame that all these amazing paintings are stacked up in his studio when they could be living another life on someone’s wall somewhere.
Memories
Paintings mean a lot to me, I grew up with them. Colin is my dad and although I don’t paint I can see what’s going on in his work, not always, but that’s the thing about paintings - everyone has their own interpretation of what they see and feel.
Colin did lots of pencil and ink sketches of us, my brothers and I, when we were growing up. It’s our equivalent of a photo album; camping in the old VW van, cycling on the street, tying up shoe laces, picnics by the river...
Nowadays I think there are a lot of people who just don’t consider paintings in their everyday life and certainly would never buy one or ‘dare’ buy one. I’d like to convince or reassure people that looking at a piece of artwork doesn’t necessarily mean you have to have a particular opinion or have to come up with some deep and meaningful statement about it. A painting is whatever you feel it is. It may remind you of something, evoke a memory or mood or it could just be that you love the colour, the contrast, the form.
Take a long look ...
It is amazing how many people will say that they ‘don’t really like abstract paintings’ or that they ‘are not that keen on figurative images’ and then as they look at Colin’s work they are suddenly taken with an enormous green abstract painting or a very simple drawing of figures by the river. You can’t label or categorize your tastes and feelings - you would be surprised what you can see in a painting if you look long enough.
Colin’s paintings range from water colours of the Irish coastline through oil paintings of landscapes in England, France, Norway and Italy to abstract cityscapes and mystical forms.
He is experimenting and discovering all the time.
