The Wild Side of Britain
A visual odyssey by artist Neil Pinkett
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to view the working watercolour sketches
A Cornish artist known for his dramatic oil paintings of cliffs and coastline has recently completed a visual odyssey - a 1,000 mile journey of artistic discovery along the Wild Side of Britain.
But was no easy trip for Neil Pinkett, from Penzance. He made the journey by bicycle, his panniers packed with paints, pallets, canvasses and brushes.
Starting on the summer solstice - June 21 - he traveled from Cape Wrath, in Scotland, to Cape Cornwall, just over the hill from his home on the Cornish Atlantic Coast. As well as the physical challenge of pedaling his way along the demanding route, Neil has set himself the visual challenge of collecting a huge range of scenes for future use.
“In all I covered more than 1,050 miles at a rate of up to 50 miles a day and it took me about four weeks - but obviously the timing couldn’t be too specific as I didn’t know what I would be seeing along the way that will inspire me to stop and paint,” said Neil. In the event, he had to endure foul weather at the start, swarms of midges later on and searing July heat towards the end.
“I’ve harvested a huge range of scenes for future work. I love painting Cornwall but I have been doing that for years. This is the chance to bring home something new.”
Neil started as an illustrator working in watercolour but has been painting in oils for ten years. His work is regularly on show at galleries in Cornwall and around the UK. Collectors will pay an average of £1,800 for a canvas, with his largest works, 6ft by 5ft paintings, selling for £12,000.
Neil said: “It is time to move my career forward and to break away from the cycle of anxiety caused by only working towards exhibitions. At the moment I tend to spend three to four months without income producing paintings for galleries, then worrying about whether the paintings will sell.
“I want to free myself from that anxiety by working on a larger scale, finding different landscapes and collecting new material that will take me in a totally different direction, into books, documentaries and to galleries along my route where people will not have seen my work before.”
The laborious process of creating an oil painting doesn’t lend itself to life on the road so Neil will busy himself with sketch books, cameras and water colours, followed by intense studio activity where the notes and sketches will be converted into paintings.
This work will lead initially to an exhibition of around 100 watercolour paintings detailing the journey along Britain’s wild and rocky western coast.*
Neil then plans to put together a book of the watercolours, his pencil sketches and written observations of the landscape of his journey.
Then it’s back to the studio to create a further 100 paintings in oils for a new show in 2007/08, to be exhibited in public and private art galleries, museums and arts centres along the route. Each exhibition will feature a core of ‘signature’ paintings that capture the spirit and purpose of the whole venture, along with a selection of works specific to that particular area. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution will receive the proceeds of the sale by auction of a painting to be donated by Neil.
Neil was supported on his journey by two companions, one cycling and one from a pool of volunteer drivers, in a mobile camper converted into a studio.
“I love painting and cycling and I was so excited about this opportunity to combine these two great passions. This was an ambitious trip, beyond anything I have undertaken before, but it was a personal and professional quest that will benefit me physically, emotionally and artistically in the future.”
Notes to Editors:
For interviews with Neil Pinkett please contact Michael Jay at The Great Atlantic Galleries on 01736 788911 or 07971 206938. Neil’s journey will by its very nature be flexible - for the latest news on his progress and whereabouts he is, please contact Michael Jay or visit www.greatatlantic.co.uk/wildsideofbritain
Jpg images of Neil and his work are available from michaeljay@greatatlantic.co.uk
Neil Pinkett was born and brought up at St Just-in-Penwith near Land’s End. He now lives in Penzance with his 16-year-old daughter Hannah but still works in St Just and exhibits there, at The Great Atlantic Galleries.
* The first fruits of Neil Pinkett's Wild Side of Britain - a visual odyssey will be exhibited at the Milton Gallery in St Paul's School, Barnes, London on September 27th 2006 until October 11th 2006.
