Simon Carter

Artist Statement

"I make paintings based on walking and drawing on the local Essex marshes. I have several regular routes, usually along the seawalls. I carry with me an A4 paper and a small tin of graphite sticks and crayons. I want to respond quickly to things seen, often returning to the same spot month after month, enjoying the quiet, seeing what comes to light, hoping for the unexpected.
 
In the studio the drawings become source material for the paintings. The drawings are examined and dissected and, in a real sense, they become the subject of the paintings. Painting is a long process of improvised try-outs, putting something up for examination, scraping it out or covering it over, repeating, waiting for the moment that something happens and starts to speak. I make watercolours to try to examine what the paintings are doing."