ship caught in snowstorm at sea

sold

Acrylic on canvas

180cm x 160cm

unframed

 

 

Description

Inspiration: Snowstorm – Steamboat off a Harbour Mouth (1842), Oil on canvas

The original painting by JMW Turner revealed a steam ship in a snowstorm at sea. Turner was actually reported to have been in the storm on the night the Ariel left Harwich and was apparently lashed to the mast for 4 hours so he could observe the sense of being in such a storm.
I am a sailor, and have experienced helming through stormy, mountainous waves. I was immediately drawn to the paintings massive wave and the feeling that evoked in me. I drew on that feeling of a wave building under my feet, lifting the boat in anticipation and the exhilaration of surfing down the other side of the wave at high speed. I had paint everywhere as I translated the energy of the wave through these broad sweeping brush strokes and the multiple layers of colour seen in the waves as you shoot through it! I absolutely loved painting on such a large scale, there will be more to come.
Notice the subtle contemporary twist in the subject matter…..