"Labrador Bay" (Shaldon) by Richard Thorn
Framed Original Watercolour 32 cm x 25 cm
Total Overall Size (mounted and framed) 53cm x 48cm
Signed
Labardor Bay is just outside the village of Shaldon in Devon on the coast road to Torquay.
Richard Thorn remembers being in hospital when he was five and to relieve the boredom of the long stay (which seemed endless, he recalls), he passed the time drawing. There was a lot of positive feedback both from school and parents with regard to his seeming 'gift'. These affirmations proved to be the spark that lit the fire, as from then on he says, “drawing seemed to be as natural as eating”.
Trips to Dartmoor with the family proved to be a source of inspiration. Those early images of the rugged hills and streams provided the prima materia for his affinity with nature and landscape.
As Richard went through his schooling he seemed to come to the natural conclusion that being an artist was not just something that he would become but, rather, who he was!
Richard was born in Torquay and naturally, the sea figured prominently in his young life. As a result the sea is a constant source of subject matter. Richard is an intuitive artist, preferring to paint from 'feeling' rather than an academic standpoint.
"I love the poetry of the land and the sea. The associations are strong and deep and I try to convey this in my work".
The reasons for choosing to paint in watercolour are vague but he was never-the-less attracted to the medium because it retained the drawing and sketching elements that were so intrinsic in his art.
Composition and contrast are the keys to inspire me to paint a subject. “As I get older, I feel an increasing need to incorporate drama into my work”. Light and dark passages, contra jour and strong composition serve to help me achieve this end. I feel too that my drawing has gradually become more expressive which adds vitality to this dramatic motivation.
I have never been a watercolour 'purist', although I greatly admire the exponents of this genre. My prime objectives are not purely technique but a desire to convey the myriad, textures that exist in nature and to achieve this I like to incorporate other media into my work such as acrylic, body-colour, pastel, ink, coloured crayon and even the humble biro. Some of these mediums are relatively new to me but they are increasingly becoming the norm in my paintings.
I think that art is a moving thing, not only from a technical point-of-view but also from an emotional one. My intention is to move with these changes and hopefully make statements that are relevant to my perceptions of the world and who I am.
