Twilight (noun)
A soft, luminous light created when the sun is below the horizon and Earth’s surface is neither completely lit nor completely dark.
Synonymous with the witching hour, twilight is a fleeting glimpse of tranquillity when things are not quite as they seem. This ethereal crossover between light and dark, night and day, is captured by oil painter Richard Rowan in his powerful new collection, Twilight. From the fiery horizons of Thailand to the proud roots of the British landscape, the magic of the folkloric ‘blue hour’ is brought to life. Taken from the French l’heure bleue , it describes the elusive 10-minute window for photographers to capture the moment just before or after the sun appears. Richard explains: “With it comes the promise of times ahead. It’s about waiting for the clouds to pass, the colours to form and the sun to rise or set. It’s an awe and beauty we all take for granted.” To recreate the vivid hues, Richard used two different oil paints and his own chemical formula, with timing crucial for blending and applying layers. The colours are more radiant on glass than when they are first squeezed from the tube, as the medium adds its own refractive luminosity. Richard says: “I wanted to study the visually-striking display created by indirect sunlight tinting the sky. With glass naturally responding to changes in light, the paintings will continue to evolve over time.” Glowing beneath each artwork is a story and musical soundscape. To get himself into the mindset of each piece, Richard listened to a specific song. The Twilight soundtrack features Italian composer Ludovico Enaudi and songs from Hollywood films including The Last Samurai and The Theory of Everything , evoking a different mood for each painting. Also revealed is an intimate glimpse into Richard’s family life; the father-of-two has represented his family through nature and depicted their travels to foreign lands. For those of us with no window to view the beauty of the world, the collection is a time-lapse of the glorious spectrum of Mother Nature and a reminder to stop and reflect every once in a while. Richard adds: “Beautiful, intriguing and occasionally eerie, twilight evokes special memories and emotions. This collection hopes to emphasise the power of our planet and explore that feeling of our home being so small within the universe, our ceiling ever-changing.”
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