VA N I S H I N G L I N E S
Paintings of the Fens by Fred Ingrams
VA N I S H I N G L I N E S I have over the last four years almost exclusively painted the Fens. During this time, this strange and unloved landscape has become one that I feel completely at home in. Its abstract beauty and emptiness make it a place of endless inspiration. My guide has often been the writings of Edward Storey who once wrote that “There may be other flat landscapes in this country but none quite like this. It is difficult to describe it, or paint it, or photograph it – you can only see it in all its magnitude.” This challenge is always in my mind when I set off in my landrover on a painting trip. As I sit and paint in the Fens, I am always struck by how few people inhabit this place. I am nearly always alone. The only sounds are distant tractors, the calls of swans, lapwings, warblers and the cry of Marsh Harriers. It seems that a fear of flatness keeps the Fens empty. It is an industrial landscape reclaimed from the sea filled with rows of regimented crops growing in the black soil. The wind blows from the east and is cold and nagging. The people who live here appear, like the wind, cold and unfriendly. It is a landscape on the outside, inhabited by outsiders - together they make up its’ myths and stories. The Fens is perhaps the least loved landscape in Britain and so has over the years have been able to emerge from the water without any attempt to make it pleasing to the outsider. It has been left to the people who farm it to make it as easy as possible to farm. No hedges, trees, houses, bridleways or footpaths to get in the way. Just straight lines. The ditches, drains and rivers thanks to Vermuyden and Bedford are now straight. Once the droves became roads they too had to be straight. Looking at this collection of paintings I realise that most of them are of these straight lines disappearing into the distance. Everything here appears to be disappearing into the distance. This is a distance that is hard to judge but it surrounds you and makes you wonder what is beyond the horizon - probably just the outside world that has no interest. It is a landscape defined mainly by flatness, an unapologetic lack of "scenery" and by its difference. To me it is a spirit and attitude that defines it. It doesn't care what people think of it and seems to relish being misunderstood by the outside world. I hope these paintings capture this unconventional beauty and awkward spirit.
Fred Ingrams was born 1964. He studied at Camberwell and St. Martins Schools of Art. For ten years he painted above the Coach & Horses pub in Soho, whilst exhibiting in various central London galleries. He has worked as a graphic designer and art director on many magazines including: Sunday Times, The Field, Tatler, Vogue and House & Garden. In 1998 he moved to Norfolk where he paints and draws both nudes and landscapes from life. Most recently he has become obsessed by The Fens. 2
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Fog rolling in from The Wash, Sluice Road, Lincolnshire Acrylic on board. 6’ x 3’. Oct 2014
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Ditch leading to pump house on the River Lark, Fodder Fen Drove, Aug 2014. Acrylic on board, 122 x 122 cms
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Ditch next to Sedge Fen Road – winter sunshine rain coming, Nov 2014. Acyrlic on board, 123 x 123cms
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Winter’s evening on Anchor Drove Acrylic on board, 61 x 61 cms
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Methwold Fen in the spring Acrylic on board.61 x61cms
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Townsend Farm, Neeps Bridge, Middle Drove, Middle Drain, March 2014 Acrylic on panel, 91 x 91cms
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Fog rolling in from The Wash, Sluice Road, Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Oct 2014 Acrylic on board. 123 x123cms
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Flowering Potatoes, Dairy Drove, Ten Mile Bank, Aug 2014 Acrylic on panel, 116 x 123cms
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Winter ditch, The Black Fens, March 2015 Acyrlic on board, 123 x 123cms 13
Ditch next to Sedge Fen Road – winter sunshine rain coming, Nov 2014. Acyrlic on board, 123 x 123cms
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Bourne Farm, Methwold Fen on a grey day in the Black Fens, Nov 2014 Acylic on board,123 x123cms
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VA N I S H I N G L I N E S an exhibition of recent work by Fred Ingrams Wednesday 13th - Sunday 17th May 2015 ART BERMONDSEY 183-185 Bermondsey Street, First Floor London SE1 3UW