Comments or questions regarding this site? johnd.hicks@virgin.netThe idea for this painting grew from frustration at not being able to see the garden from my studio window because the sun was shining directly into my eyes. This forced me to paint the objects more from memory, with the result that they became more structured and independent, freely moving within the square-shaped composition. As fragments of trees, window frames, roof, broke free I reconstructed them more carefully in paint by making repeated, gestural marks. This painting is like a sampler of my favourite gestures:-Summer Garden, oil on canvas 59 cm X 58 cm.- repeated parallel strokes of the window frame and glass roof, working over the same line with a flat ended brush, surprisingly easy to keep straight because it corrects itself after five layers;- the bay tree is formed by finger painting with both hands;- the honeysuckle, still the lightest toned shrub in the garden, made by scratching through the black into the white primer;
- the fir tree: brush painted more freely than the mechanical precision of the window frames. The yellow halo formed by the drying edges of the pine branches, intensified by the sun.
- brass window catch: impasto, applied with palette knife.Black is obviously important in this painting. I've worked with four black pigments: Blue Black; Lamp Black; Ivory Black; Iron Black, so the dark areas shift from cool to warm. The glossy surface reveals directional brushstrokes, making subtle changes of tone on the surface. I'm working more with blacks to try to link my painting more closely with the preparatory drawing; there's still too much of a barrier between these two stages of my work.
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