“Devotions”

A collection of drawings and paintings offering a window into my lifelong love affair with nature. Named after the anthology “Devotions” by Mary Oliver, which draws together her masterful poems rejoicing in the power of living simply and connecting with nature. A celebration of the wild spaces and big skies that surround my home, and that more broadly symbolise our relationship with the natural world.

The drawings have been created out in the fields and represent moments of direct connection with the landscape. Times where I stop, observe, and can just be, mindful in the present moment. I absorb nature’s energy, soak it up and do my best to capture something of the feeling of being out in the ever-changing landscape that is so full of energy and life. These pieces are created in pastels and charcoal on paper.

Back in the studio I paint in oils taking the feelings and experiences of being within the landscape and translating these into paint. Some pieces are created using expressive, gestural brushwork – other pieces have been made with a palette knife. My paintings aim to express my deep connection with nature and, also my love of paint and how it can express things beyond what we actually see.

I believe that nature can be a great healer. In times of stress, it can comfort and restore us. It can uplift us and set our hearts and souls alight. But nature is also under threat and needs our help too. My hope is that my work may help others to connect or reconnect more deeply with nature. Through this connection, by noticing and delighting in the beauty that is all around us perhaps we can collectively work together to celebrate, protect and conserve our precious wild spaces.

Mary Oliver wrote that “attention is the beginning of devotion”. I hope that my work can help draw attention to the beauty of the natural world, it’s value to us, and our need live in harmony with it. We are all connected through nature, and in immersing ourselves in the landscape, we can rekindle our bond with it’s boundless lifeforce that ultimately flows through us all.