I love Gareth Sansom

(Pic above: Dr Fu Manchu's Death by Gyro 2007 from John Buckley Gallery) I have always admired his works. Again, it's the bold contrasting color that appeals to me and the confidence in his mark making. As Gareth points out himself, he doesn't paint 'pretty pictures'. I don't like pretty pictures. And I don't like over-used themes and 'fashionable' subject matter.

When I look at his work, in particular the works from his 2007 exhibition at John Buckley (which is just around the corner from me!), I get a similar feeling to when I view Angela Brennan and Adam Cullen. They are interesting works, they jump out at me, they are strong and have something to say.

If you exhibited these 3 artists in the one room I would move right in. There is so much going on in their works, so many interesting ideas which I find so appealing.

A lot of what Gareth says when talking about the way he works, I can relate to for example:

"If a picture looks too nice, or has worked out too quickly, I'm not happy about that. So often I'll just wreck it, to make it harder for myself. Sometimes by going through the wreckage, a better solution can be found - though not one that I've arrived at by moving step after step, to a logical conclusion." Studio pg 174.

In the studio, if I even think about re-producing something I've successfully created in the past (I'm not talking about an entire painting here, just a small section! a few marks!), my painting turns out flat and lifeless. Even if I replicate a past process. It just won't work for me. My style varies and this is because I can't help the way I evolve as an artist, if I stick to a more distinct style for more then 2 or 3 paintings (same idea, similar palette and shapes) it just doesn't work for me. I have to move on and explore different territory. I can't go against something that naturally occurs, and to me if I think about a painting too much then I just can't work effectively. My marks have to be made quickly, otherwise I just loose it. The drawings below, I am particularly happy with, I did these in 2007 - they came quickly and I have tried to create something similar ever since, and I can't. SO they just belong to the past.
These are "Changing times" (top) and "When I see you smile" (bottom).