Artist: Karl Davies

Artist’s Statement

Karl Davies was born in Newport, South Wales. He studied for BA Fine Art at Cheltenham, and then undertook a teacher training course at Cardiff UWIC where he achieved a PGCE in Art & Design.

In December 2004 he finally began painting seriously again. At that time the primary concern was to develop his use of tone and contrast. Then followed the problem of creating space and distance in paint, on a flat surface. Initially he used digital photography to explore composition and at the same time rediscovered the joy of using paint.

He was for the first time using landscape as a theme. Landscape is proving to be a successful vehicle through which he can express and communicate his joy of using paint. He enjoys the process of creating form with paint. He uses a mixture of deliberate and intuitive brush marks in each composition and usually prepares a sketch before painting. The theme of landscape is proving to be an inexhaustible and liberating resource.

"I am involved in creating representations of North and South Wales in paint. Mountains, fields, and streets. There is an air of retrospection about the work, of time passing. There is a permanency in the worn streets and the valley sides are overbearing and ever present in the corner of your eye.

The work is about atmosphere, settlement, home and the elements. A human situation, tragedy and happiness. Sweat and graft no longer visible, but present in stone and made safe tips.

I am traditional in terms of my attitude towards materials and believe in the importance of drawing. I have been influenced by both Sir Kyffin Williams and Josef Herman in this regard. I try to communicate through the work unselfishly, provoking a memory and personal response. There is no secret code to unlock the work, the work is always open to interpretation and without pretension. I enjoy simplifying forms to make them a suggestion of what they represent creating a solidity, without fuss and literality. I enjoy crafting and exploring new compositions and I am happiest when either painting or drawing."