Paintings: Sheila Marlborough

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My inspiration comes from the Sussex landscape and South Downs, having lived in the county all my life. When out walking I observe and absorb my surroundings, recording to memory the feeling, atmosphere, shapes and textures.  I take photographs and sometimes do a brief sketch, but only refer to it later in order to abstract and change it, to create movement and exaggerate colour. I need to distance myself from the subject and the aim is to share my personal view of landscape.

Ideas come at any time, sometimes as a fleeting glimpse when travelling by car, rushing past a golden wheat field with a solitary tree, seen through a gap in a blurred hedge, or camera at the ready, to capture a landmark of three trees on top of a hill, as we race down to Cornwall. Sometimes I have seen an acid yellow expanse of a distant rape field and then the bright red of poppies, really wishing to capture the feeling of that moment.

I choose the colour to create a mood, mostly happy and bright and arrived at by experimenting.  I like to make the colours sing and create a frisson.  My influences come from artists such as Patrick Heron, American artist Edward Betts and painters from the Glasgow School of Art, for their wonderful use of colour.