Artist Martin Williamson, who works under the name of Cobbybrook is currently developing a series of paintings and postcards to fund raise for St. Nicolas Church.—Bay Life, 16 October 2016
The work of Cobbybrook is known across the country. His work features in many places such as the Guardian website. A new painting is to form the basis of a set of paintings and postcards to be sold in support of the fund raising efforts at St. Nicolas Church in Pevensey in their 800th anniversary year.
Martin says about the series of paintings and postcards, “this morning (October 13) my latest painting will be winging its way south to be auctioned to raise funds for the ancient church of St Nicolas in Pevensey, Sussex. The 800 year old church needs a new roof, so I’m doing a batch of postcards for them, too – a tiny drop in the ocean but it all helps!”.
His paintings which he describes as being “about a sense of place” hang in private collections throughout the world and organisations such as The Friends Of Friendless Churches, and The National Churches Trust.
He says “the landscape is my focus: its ever-changing moods, forms, forces, light and weather. Sometimes buildings will take centre-stage, buildings hewn from the local rock, ancient buildings that could almost be an organic extension of the land and the rock itself. Man isn’t present in my work, only the hand of Man – Man and Landscape together, living, working, evolving, dying…”
“I work both outdoors on location and in the studio; my outdoor paintings tend to be in inks and wax resist on watercolour paper, my studio work acrylics on canvas applied with a knife. Back at the studio I spend a long time thinking about a painting, assembling the visual memories in my mind, recalling my experiences of the landscape, allowing the composition to evolve.
“Then, when I paint, it is done rapidly, expressively, using a restricted palette (normally just yellow ochre, crimson, ultramarine, black and white), mixing colours on the canvas, scraping, mixing again, scoring the surface, scratching, carving and shaping the image in a manner that echoes the primeval forming of the land itself.
“To me, my paintings are a natural conclusion to an interaction with the landscape”.
You can read more about the work of Cobbybrook in Bay Life: The Journal our hyperlocal broadsheet newspaper, next issue (issue 6) published October 31. We hope to feature an exclusive interview with Martin and present some of his work.
The new original picture by Cobbybrook will be available for raffle at the King’s Singers’ concert to be held at St. Nicolas Church this coming Friday (21 October).
IMAGE CREDITS: Martin Williamson (Cobbybrook)
PAINTING: Cobbybrook, St. Nicolas Church, Pevensey: original painting to be auctioned and feature as part of a series of postcards
