Jeff Rowland Spring Collection 2016
station, passengers alighting from trains or even a policeman giving directions to someone. Explain your work in 2-3 sentences… I would say that my work is a representative in oil paint, of the all the black and white cinematic images ever made on the silver screen and, to anyone who has ever loved another human being. I mean really loved. Which piece is your favourite from your collection and why? I think the favourite one for me is Until the Last Minute. I really enjoy painting train stations because I feel they really conjure the atmosphere of the quintessential 1950’s British train station and the There is one little thing I like to do before I begin to paint. As soon as I have the clean canvas in front of me and onto my drawing board, (I never use an easel), I like to place the palms of my hands onto it and rub them all over the tooth of the canvas. It is almost like a small introduction to the canvas and leaves my hands with a lovely tingling feel. I have done this for years and has become almost like a little ritual. A creature of habit you may say. What genre would you typically associate your work with? The 1950’s cinema genre. romance of the 50’s film genre. Any personal quirky methods?
What influenced these pieces? My influence for this collection is several things. The first of course is always the rain. It has become such a strong feature in my work that I feel it will always be there. Then there is my love of the old British black and white cinema. This influence can’t be ignored. I have always tried to portray my work as a piece of cinema, maybe the end of a movie or the high point to the movie. I have used this method all the way through my career with great results however; I always feel that the artwork should continue to develop. So the other influences I have used to create this collection are from way back in my student days. I studied 19 Century art and was always excited by William Hogarth’s paintings and the illustrations of George Cruikshank. They were both social commentators through their work, whether remarking on the political situation of England at the time or making a stand on corruption. I was very interested in what was going on in the background of the pieces. The actions of these little figures. The implicit meanings of what they were doing. Both artists would have lots of people in crowds. Each figure acting out a small statement which would have an impact on the final artwork. So, I began to work on my own interpretation of that. I didn’t want to make social comments but I have always wanted my audience to form their own opinion of what was happening to the central characters in my paintings. This time I wanted them to see small going’s on in the background. Little vignettes being played out by these people. Whether they be porters working on the train
jeff rowland
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