Bob Aldous 'Chaos to Calm'

BOB ALDOUS

CHAOS TO CALM ‘In painting is the poetry, in poetry the painting.’

Bob Aldous’ paintings explore the emotions of atmosphere. The artist is concerned with water: surface, depth, reflection.

When gazing at a lake, river, or ocean, we experience a hazy stillness. Observing the reflections of the sky above, interpolated with the world below, transports us to a liminal plane. Similarly, when looking through an Aldous painting, the viewer is conveyed away from their internal clamour to a space of transcendent calm.

This show, for Aldous, is about exploring the pulsating space of where sky and water melt together in reflection. He paints from an internal, distilled landscape. With his aqueous washes of oil or egg tempura, he abstracts the nature of water, blending what could be reflections of sky together with a landscape below the surface. There is an emphasis on atmospheric distance in his work, created through varying tonal value.

This simulates the distance one feels either looking through a body of water or gazing into the reflections of sky. This pulsating space, results in a movement of the eye and mind.

Aldous has been investigating the subtle luminosity of egg tempura and oil glazes.

With egg tempura, the ground of the canvas shines through the paint, imitating the muffled glow of backlit clouds. Aldous, sensitive to the fluidity of his subject matter,

paints on silk or very fine canvas.

The delicate washes of inks and paint bleed and seep into this delicate support, exaggerating the nature and fibre of the material.

Colour is important to the artist’s process.

Aldous will refine his palette through a series of small, coloured sketches, each cross-pollinating hues, compositions, and mark-making. These sketches act as rough road maps for his bigger pieces.

A vast amount of his process is taken up with adjusting his palette until the desired colours are achieved. When applying brush to canvas, Aldous works quickly: swiping of the brush and wiping back through slashes of tempura. This fluid mark making results in paintings full of movement, both quick and blossoming.

Although working with an earthy, subtle palette, Aldous creates space and distance by contrasting receding muted blends of colour with energetic, vibrant, immediate marks. These darts and flicks of brilliant whites, electric blues, or deep Payne’s greys, reimagine the lambent reflections of light on water. The marks also give the works a rhythm, drawing the eye to the surface detail, creating an illusion of vast space.

Aldous paints himself out of internal suffering. When finished, the painting reflects a space of beauty, possibility, and transportation.

Kate Reeve-Edwards

front cover:

back cover:

Morning Water

Spring to Sea

Oil on canvas 100 × 80 cm

Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 100 × 150 cm

£3,500

£6,600

requests the pleasure of your company at the Private View of

BOB ALDOUS Chaos to Calm at 2 Park Walk, London SW10 0AD

Tuesday 22nd March 2022 6 - 8pm

The exhibition continues until 8th April Paintings are for sale on receipt of the catalogue.

The entire exhibition can be viewed online at www.cricketfineart.co.uk

Blue Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 100 × 150 cm £6,600 2

The River Crossing Oil on canvas 150 × 100 cm £6,600 3

Elevation III Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 150 × 100 cm £6,600 4

Elevation I & II (Diptych) Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 150 × 100 cm £12,900 5

Soft Weather Oil on canvas 100 × 80 cm £3,500 6

Salmon Leap Oil on canvas 100 × 80 cm £3,500 7

Earth Sky Water Oil on canvas 150 × 100 cm £6,600 8

Emerald Earth Oil on canvas 150 × 100 cm £6,600 9

Field of Green Oil on canvas 150 × 100 cm £6,600 10

Summer Rain Oil on canvas 150 × 100 cm £6,600 11

The Other Shore Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 45 × 35 cm £1,400

Southern Hemisphere Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 48 × 38 cm £1,500

12

Dancer’s Leap I & II (Diptych) Oil on canvas 150 × 100 cm £12,900 13

As Above as Below Oil on canvas 100 × 80 cm £3,500 14

Pink Cloud Oil on canvas 100 × 80 cm £3,500 15

16

Sea in the Clouds I

Sea in the Clouds II

Oil on panel 23.5 × 17 cm

Oil on panel 23.5 × 17 cm

£550

£550

Burdock

Beauty Trapped in a Frozen Promise

Oil on panel 21 × 14 cm

Oil on panel 21 × 14 cm

£550

£550

Cave to Sea I & II (Diptych) Oil on canvas 150 × 100 cm £12,900 17

18

Blue Splash I

Blue Splash II

Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 48 × 38 cm

Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 48 × 38 cm

£1,500

£1,500

Light Rain

Azure Mist

Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 45 × 35 cm

Ink, watercolour and acrylic on silk 45 × 35 cm

£1,400

£1,400

Bridge between Earth and Sky I Oil on canvas 80 × 60 cm £2,800 19

Bridge between Earth and Sky II Oil on canvas 80 × 60 cm £2,800

Bridge between Earth and Sky III Oil on canvas 80 × 60 cm £2,800 20

Lagoon Oil on canvas 100 × 150 cm £6,600 21

CRICKET FINE ART LONDON

HUNGERFORD

2 Park Walk

Barrs Yard, Unit 4

London SW10 0AD

1 Bath Road Hungerford RG17 0HE

T: 020 7352 2733

T: 01488 647351

M: 07778 568 367

M: 07778 568 367

info@cricketfineart.co.uk

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