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‘ sunset the snow will glow with the colour. And then on a very grey, dull day the colour drains from the landscape, but then the focus is the bare bones of trees, and to show the cold crisp weather in the paintings. A lot of people have said that they'd always assumed that the landscape is only grey and white in winter and are quite surprised when they see my work which has far more colour than they expect - often they come back to the gallery saying that they've noticed the colours in the landscape for the first time after becoming aware of them through the paintings.”
He points out that it is the light which can pinpoint something specific in a landscape amongst the greys and whites. It might just be
Above: The Stillness of Winter and below, Incredible Winter Evening
The singer, songwriter and
poet Becky Mills wrote two songs to accompany Paul’s winter exhibition, and the text of these - plus a CD - will be included in a catalogue and book of the artist’s latest work. Becky - a friend of Pauls - spent the early 2000's recording solo albums and touring with the likes of Fairport Convention and Barbara Dickson. Her next solo album, released in January is “Tall Tales and Home Truths".
fleeting moments as the light moves.
I wonder if he is on reconnaissance during the spring and summer to see if somewhere might work well as a winter vista.
“Most often the places I paint are ones that I know very well indeed, which I walk through during the seasons,” he says. “They get under my skin, and so they are the same places I walk to in the snow. Each place is
Below: Felsham Church and, below right, Solstice Song
the same, but different, according to the season, and I enjoy the dramatic variation one particular place can show me. My aim is to then translate these kaleidoscopic changes into my painting, to give a true sense of place in my work.”
Study his work at his end of year exhibition in Lavenham and you won’t be surprised to learn Paul’s paintings are a magazine designer’s dream. Rich colours, a variety of perspectives, and images that brilliantly showcase rural and coastal Suffolk as well as several other parts of England too (he often paints in Cornwall, Devon and the South Coast).
He has his imitators, people who may try and mimic his style, but there is only one Paul Evans, Suffolk artist. Long may that continue.
interview: Richard Bryson
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