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PENNY HUNT
Longing for the sea:
Sometimes it feels like a sickness to me, a twisting yearning in my gut to just be there. To take deep breaths of sea air so full of wild promise it makes you feel lightheaded. To smell the seaweed, to hear the push and drag of rolling pebbles, rounding themselves on the beach or the dull crash of big waves on the headland. The repetitive sounds, the constant movement, the sea air, gulls crying, wind blowing and the wide expanse of mysterious, mythological depths. The way the light changes so fast, reflections on the water multiplying the effects of clouds and sunlight. Beach fires, sandy feet, freedom.
Having always loved sitting for hours watching the sea move around rocks I am in my element painting on the beach. The energy of the moving water is much better captured by painting directly onto canvas or board while out in the wind, my atmospheric seascapes always start on the beach, sand and seaweed blow in and the exhilaration of the surroundings become part of the brushstrokes, if they are finished in the studio it is from memory or quick sketches, never photos which remove that immediacy.
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