Figure paintings

  • From the beach 48 x 36ins (120 x 90cm)
  • Reclining figure, Manfredonia 30 x 24ins (75 x 60cm)
  • Jenifer swimming I 24 x 20ins (60 x 50cm)
  • Jenifer swimming II 24 x 20ins (60 x 50cm)
  • Xeno's Daughter, Velia 18 x 24ins (45 x 60cm)
  • Velia Couple 36 x 30ins (90 x 75cm)
  • Come on in! (Tropea) 30 x 24ins (75 x 60cm)
  • Striding along 30 x 30ins (75 x 75cm)
  • Conversation Piece 40 x 36ins (100 x 90cm)
  • Woman reading 30 x 24ins (75 x 60cm)
  • Two couples, Otranto 36 x 30ins (90 x 75cm)
  • Beach Party 60 x 36ins (150 x 90cm)
  • Self-portrait at Eighty 18 x 18ins (45 x 45cm)

My return to painting was initially sparked-off by memories of places. Landscapes were a natural response. But every landscape painter is haunted by the question, ‘Where is everybody?’ My answer was to go back to traditional ways of painting the figure, building on the skills I leaned in my Slade days. Figures on the beach were an obvious way of linking people with their settings. In swimming trunks or bikinis, bathers are close to the images familiar from the life room. When they sprawl-out relaxed in the sunshine their forms can be captured with quick sketches that can be worked-out later in the studio, re-posing for detail if necessary.