Kate Barker

OCEANS
This new collection of mixed media paintings intend to convey the rhythm, motion and raw energy of the sea.
'A daily walk by the sea, and a dip in its waters, usually with a surfboard, has become a normal and essential occurrence to my weekly routine."
With this new body of paintings I wish to share with the viewer my deep connection and relationship with the ocean. Walking the coastal path, I head down a sandy track and onto the beach, I set up my spot, in the rocks close to the shoreline. I love to paint in the landscape in this way, 'en plain air', as with every sitting the experience will always be unique. Alone with my thoughts and in the moment, I begin my conversation with the sea, responding to my surroundings with paint. I work spontaneously, intuitively and with conviction.
Listening to the crashing waves that break over and between the rocks, watching the shifting sand being pushed and pulled along the beach and through the rocks, noticing the changing shapes of the rocks as they become engulfed underwater by the pushing tide, smelling the seaweed that swirls and swashes in the rock pools, lingering and languishing for the falling tide. There is a freedom whilst working outside that can become quite overwhelming and one of wonder. I hope to capture this in my paintings.