“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” 
― John Muir

Most of these paintings are of imaginary places. I walk every day with my dogs…. I like to call them reconnaissance expeditions…collecting a dictionary of sights, smells, sounds and tastes of my surroundings and weather. Processing them in my studio is a random affair ,quite often not knowing what the outcome with be .I paint on  20-30 paintings at any time ,all on a theme that develops from number one to number 30…remember number 4 ,7, 12,18,19 ,25…might find their way into the bin or will be recycled for future themes.

William Henry Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

I paint on board with oils for this reason as it enables me to change format and orientation easily and opens up endless possibilities for adjustment, composition decisions and most importantly ..sanding down. My watercolours are also a random affair ..I’m no stranger to washing out sections or resorting to using white ink to re-enliven an area. 

Experimentation is what keeps me alive and engaged in my work …if the ride is easy the outcome doesn’t excite me!

Quite places and meditative scenes are becoming more prevalent in my work …I paint because I have no words, William Davies sums it up for you ‘wordy’ folk and Proust is worth a peek at  too!

- Kate Bentley SWA

Exhibition Paintings: