The Art of Robert Parkin
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| ‘Almost Time’ |
“My time in Canada has been all to brief. Not surprisingly perhaps the one feeling that lingers on in the memory is the overwhelming scale of the landscape. In this picture I’ve tried to catch the ‘feeling’ rather than the place. The foreground features and almost dominates, but not quite. And as you walk in that landscape the ground immediately in front of you never seems to recede and there’s always another crest to a hill giving way to yet more land. At the same time the mountains rise away and the scale becomes distorted and distance impossible to say. To the wildlife all this is just home. The Bear emerges from hibernation to a landscape giving way from the grip of winter to more fruitful times.”
“I have to work hard to understand why everyone doesn't want to be an artist. To look at the world and see so much colour and form. The challenge of even coming near to what you see when you're working on canvas is what keeps me alive.”
“When people see me working, nearly always they will say :
“It must be marvellous to be able to paint like that, you make it look so easy”.”
“No it's not. Painting is hard work, and often you don't think it's marvellous to paint at all. But, I do get miserable when I'm not drawing or painting. I've been very lucky to get a view of the landscape I live in that many don't see. Drawing unlocks secrets; you look in such close detail, you can't help but see it.”
“I can remember as a child, very vividly, looking into the nest of a Moorhen with my dad. She had chosen to nest mid-way out on the canal behind our house; the rough tangle of rushes that made her nest, almost floating, was anchored by the stems of reeds as tall as I was. All surrounded by lily-pads that looked as though you could walk on them. The picture of that is as clear in my mind, 40 years on, as that spring day, with it's cool blue evening light. Somehow it just stays; I could close my eyes and draw it today. Everywhere I go I see pictures.”
“Keep drawing, and keep painting. You have a wonderful style - colour comes to you naturally. I will treasure the little drawing of the Elephant…” (quote from David Shepherd, the painter of giants, to Robert Parkin, after exhibiting together.)
“I wish you could spend some time in my garden. The pool and island look so beautiful in autumn, and having seen your work I can't think of anyone better qualified to paint them…” (quote from Norman Thellwell, writer and artist, visiting an exhibition of Robert's work.)
