Lambley Viaduct Greetings Card

This card is from an original oil and plastic painting of Lambley Viaduct, part of the South Tynedale railway from Alston, Cumbria to Haltwhistle, Northumberland. The railway line was a significant development for the history of Alston, and ran through the beautiful North Pennines. Today the narrow gauge railway runs from Alston to Slaggyford, and is accompanied by a beautiful walk all the way to Haltwhistle. I make my work from a combination of first hand observational drawings and paintings in the open air, backed up by photos as aide memoirs back in the studio, as well as imagination to produce a final piece on canvas using mixed media, a combination of oil paint, non-recyclable plastics either collaged or ‘soldered’ onto the canvas, and pastel.

I want people to enjoy my images and to perhaps re look at their own environment through a more vibrant lens, but then on closer inspection to discover the different materials on the canvas and ask questions as to why I use plastic; why it is there. I want the discovery of plastic on the canvas to be as subtle as it is in the environment – not really understanding its greater impact at first, but when given the time to contemplate its wider effects, to think beyond the surface, beyond the beauty.