A walk in the country

A walk in the country

When you stop walking and pause to look at the

countryside around you it is difficult to find one

particular section of the view that typifies the

whole. On the Ridgeway it is the sweep of eyes

across the distance that excites and astonishes.

It is the physical need to move the eyes across

the terrain and the sky rather than concentrating

on one area that gives the thrill.

The painters problem is how to capture that

experience in a picture. So often the visual

interest, the elements of pattern and contrast lie

in the distance and not in the immediate

foreground and it is difficult to find a solution

to accommodate this fact. Painters in the past

have often cast a strong shadow across their

foregrounds forcing the viewer to ignore it and

concentrate on the view from the middle

ground.

Another solution is to confine the picture to a

close-up of the distance where the pattern and

colour is strong enough to give a strong

structure to the painting. It is as if one was

studying the distance through binoculars. The

result is to put the viewer in mid air as though

in a low flying hot air balloon. You seem

magically transported straight to the area of

interest. At the same time your eye for detail

and contrasts are heightened by the very fact

you can concentrate your understanding of

how this distant landscape works because

there is no need to explain the space between

where you are standing and where your eyes

are looking. It is an uneasy experience.

Nick Schlee, 2010