Cheryl Culver
I have always been fascinated with structure and patterns in the landscape and I think my drawings reflect this. It is not a conscious awareness when making the drawing, but structure and patterns seem to be a powerful part of my landscape compositions. The landscape provides these patterns and, as an artist, I create an edited version, an interpretation that’s more a matter of some omissions than loads of additions.
Rocks in the landscape have a similar grain because generally they were all formed at the same time by the same geological event. They have facets and grooves, can be sharp and angular at the edges or softened by the flow of water or the prevailing winds. Lichens and moss grow on them, tufts of grass sprout from cracks where soil has settled. But when painting them don’t get bogged down with all that. Just believe you have painted a rock that feels and looks heavy and is definitely not anything else. I don’t subscribe to photographic imagery. Photographs never seems to tell the same tale as the one I see, and I do think I have some rights over my painting and how I translate the landscape. My wish is that the end result communicates with someone with enough conviction to make them want to buy it.