H2O

Hi all

Another set from the touring project I've been doing (photos taken from round the country depending on where I've happened to be with work over the last couple of years). This one is a set of water abstracts, in various states of movement and stillness. As I've mentioned here before, I usually tend to try to seek out water wherever I happen to be - so some of this is urban, some coastal. Mostly K1, K1ii, with a couple of K3ii shots in there as well. Various lenses inc FA 24-90, Plm 55-300, DFA 24-70.

1. Edinburgh - Waters of Leith




2. Plymouth - Lido




3. Cambridge - River Cam




4. Northumberland - Budle Bay




5. Edinburgh - Waters of Leith




6. Birmingham - Canal




7. Edinburgh - Waters of Leith




8. Birmingham - Canal




9. Cambridge - River Cam




10. Birmingham - Canal




11. Inverness - Beauly Firth




12. Milton Keynes - Pond




All thoughts, comments, observations etc gratefully received as ever...

Best

A good set - I particularly like Nos. 1, 5, 9, 10 & 11.

I also like the idea and think that you have the makings of an interesting panel with these.

Phil

3, 5, 8, 9 and 11 with 9 being my favourite followed by 8.
As Phil has said , these would make for an interesting panel.
Oh, to be able to see things others dont, well seen Bill.
Derek.

Another remarkable set. Most seem to have a sense of ambiguity or hint that there's something you haven't quite grasped at first sight. Whatever it is, it draws you into looking into and thinking about what the picture is saying in a way that good artists achieve with their work.

Interestingly, at the weekend I visited an exhibition of paintings by contemporary artists who are inspired by JMW Turner and was particularly drawn to those by an artist who specialises in water and light (link ) A different style to yours, but your images wouldn't look out of place in the exhibition.

Still can't get excited by waterfalls with running milk, though.

Steve

A great idea and the mix of methods ensures the set isn't "samey".

There is a touch of Hockey with the Plymouth Lido picture.

I'm at Budle Bay in a couple of weeks. I'll see if I can spot the location you used

Just to say I continue to greatly enjoy your work.

I like the understatedness (if that's the right word!) of no 2 and the complete abstract nature of no 11 which could almost be a cloud in its own right.

no.10 has a watercolour feel to it (forgive the pun), and n0 11 has a Turner-esque style to it. These two my favourites.

Eclectic water visions... you do have an affinity with the Element. 1, 8, 11 and 12 pop right out for me, visions of a parallel world - akin to the celtic 'mountain behind the mountain' - sometimes felt, rarely seen, and, one would think, unphotographable ... yet there it is. And not without humour: there's something Star Trek-y in 8 that makes me smile.

4 is in that other-wordly place too, in a different way - looks like a backbone to build a living something on ... 10 is, quite simply, fun, as is 2, in a more tongue-in-cheek manner. 6, strangely, resonates with an image I made in Saint Malo a few years back - I enjoy those kinds of shared vibrations over time and space.

Going through them again, I feel 1 is the really strong one here (as in speaking strongly to me). Makes me think of your ICM surfer series from a while back, yet here it is the water itself abstractly riding its own ripples as the surfers rode the ocean waves. The power of the Element is self-contained.

Really great work, again.

The Birmingham reflections are just lovely.

Love the variety from a single "subject" - great vision to see some of these as final images and plenty of variation in techniques and treatment. My personal favourites are the 3 Birmingham Canal images, no.10 is simple and has great impact - bet it would be stunning printed large

Thanks Phil, Derek, Steve, Nigel C, Nigel K, Andy, Peter, Serge, David, John for thoughts and comments re these...

Phil, Derek, thanks for thoughts re panel re these... hadn't thought of that, so will def have a look... one for the future, too...

Steve, thanks vmuch for the link to the exhibition... had a gd look... great stuff and very useful... funnily enough, have been having quite a close look at Turner recently, particularly wrt ICM... worth investigating Andy Gray's work in this field...

Nigel C, thanks for the Hockney reference... wasn't aware of his Lido work, but have checked out on google... thank you... wishing you a great trip to Budle Bay... one of the things that I love about the place is that it's completely different every time... depending on many things, but esp tide and sea state... the pools in the pic I posted here were on a dropping tide and gone in a matter of minutes...

Serge, thanks for your detailed comments as ever... hadn't come across the "Mountain behind the mountain" reference before, but have done some digging and have some understanding of it now... will be investigating further... thank you... 8 caught my eye in that most reflections/shadows you see tend to be quite soft, whereas this one was strong and bold with unusually hard and well defined edges... hadn't seen the vertebrae in 4, but have seen them now... thanks also for your thoughts on 1... it's the shot I ended up building the series around...

Thanks again all...

Best

I've just noticed that I mentioned 'a touch of Hockey' when I should have said 'a touch of Hockney'. Sigh.

Well spotted Bill.

The Plymouth Lido photograph has a painterly quality that reminded me of Hockney's swimming pool paintings, hence the comment.

Re. Budle Bay state: a colleague has said something to the same effect and I'm looking forward to visiting. Hopefully the sun won't be as fierce as it is at the moment otherwise I'll be melting into a pool of water