Not a surprise that one of my favourite artists is a bright colourist. An artist that got into his stride later in life – age 38 years – is Howard Hodgkin. His bright colours and bold forms stopped being semi-abstract and became splashes of emotion. Hodgkin also had a love of India which has always had a draw to me too.
Hodgkin’s work was shown at Tate Britain in 2006 (the catalogue was glorious)  and it blew me away. Never spent so much time in an exhibition as this one. In fact may have been the first time I re-visted an exhibition. The bright colourist also captured in a black and white biographical movie.The paintings just draw you in and take you away through their intensity. The  brushstrokes can be mesmerising in the obvious  energy of a stroke or opposing that precision placement of flat areas. Painted on a variety of boards and wood that he found in and around India.

What a joy to be able to explore a subject so freely that the colour and strokes represent the moment. All artists experiment and develop styles over time which is well-documented in the book Howard Hodgkin Paintings by Michael Aupin which I found in the local library when checking up on exhibition space.

A Bright Colourist

So it encourages me to keep experimenting with colour and different media in a loose style as well as producing some less expressive works. Earth Dreams is my depiction of a Honda racing car (thumbnail image). Hove Fisherman is the purple and orange explosion of colour capturing them at night in the main image which was gifted to a friend living on Shoreham Beach. Will get back to the brushes and pencils in July, but first I must tidy everything away and pack it carefully for a house move. Meanwhile you can get to meet and enjoy Howard.