'Ruska'
This
year I have made two visits to Lapland in the Arctic Circle.
Here, in the Land of the Midnight sun, vast coniferous and birch forests
cover the land, stretching from Russia to
Norway as one of the last great wildernesses of the world. In
winter the temperatures are as low as -50 degrees, but in a
short spring and summer the weather is mild and warm. When the
first frosts arrive in September, the "taiga" (or
forest) turns into a glowing tapestry of colour - the season
of Ruska
Walking
in the forests bathed in the colour of Ruska is a unique
experience. The glowing lights of amber, yellow,
red and dark green are amplified by the colours underfoot...
patches of purple and pink bilberries coating slate grey
quartzite rocks, or the powdery yellow-greys of the lichen.
This luminosity is both extraordinarily magical and
seductively disorientating.
As a farewell to summer the diverse voices of
the land are raised in such a richness of apparent dissonance
and harmony, clashing and blending that they stretch our
perceptions into the unknown. This is one of the most powerful
qualities of wilderness.
The
paintings below are the first of new work exploring the
landscape of the Luosto-Pyhä area of northern Finland. In 2008 I
will be taking summer workshops and holidays in painting and
clay work there.
For more information please see Wilderness
Art Courses
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