Sunday 23 August 2015

363 EVENING ON THE THAMES by PETER WILEMAN

 Thompson's Gallery, New Cavendish Street

I live ten minutes' walk away from the London Eye, here silhouetted against a genteel fading sky. As I write on a very sunny Sunday afternoon I know that the Thames will be ablaze, not with coloured lights, but with the jazzy excitement of people of all ages from all over the world who have chosen to come and stroll along the promenade. There will see the open-air-theatre,  cafes.  jugglers, bookshops, an aquarium and, if the tide is out, the magnificent sand sculptures  made - and washed away - on the 'beach' below. I also know that in a few hours' time it will be a fairyland of colour and reflection and dazzle  on land and water. Which is why I chose this picture.

The artist writes 'my path has lead me inexorably, like so many others before me, to try and capture that elusive quality of light, that only a shimmering sunset, dawn of a new day, dazzling sparkle of reflection off both sea and river presents to one who is prepared to both look and see'.

I love the way that this painting is 'expressive' not 'instrumental'.  In other words it does not faithfully represent an architecturally accurate record of the Thames and its banks. Instead the colour, the edginess, the spirit of the Thames  glows.


The Distance Between
 The artist again: I contemplate the landscape with amazement as it changes hourly, yet remains fundamentally the same. This is a concept I love to explore in my paintings - a blazing sunset reflected in a calm sea carries the implication of impending darkness, while heavy clouds in an overcast sky might predict an imminent storm...

http://www.peterwilemanartist.co.uk/

www.thompsonsgallery.co.uk/gallery.php/Cavendish-Street 

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