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| Gallery Plus |
| Terry Bestwick |
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| Coastal Path, Wells |
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"BORDERS"
Terry Bestwick has been painting Norfolk for over 40 years. He does so because he lives there, not because it’s pretty. If he lived in Bradford, he’d paint Bradford. He adopts this single-minded approach because he regards painting as scientists regard collecting information: observe, record and publish. Scientists do it by publishing papers; painters do it by making paintings. What Terry Bestwick observes is the nature of Norfolk. There are obvious factors to observe … weather and season etc., but his fascination and growing understanding is with the connections in nature – which are scientifically based. Clouds are like the sea; which in turn is like the beach; and the dunes, they are like the marshes and fields and glacial deposits which make the rolling county and wide shallow valleys. The rhythms and energies in all of them grow from one element to the other, almost as to the manor born. ‘Moraine’ and ‘Esker’ are two of his favourite words. Highlighting the connections inevitably makes for near abstract paintings. All painting is abstract of course, but the emphasis on the connection subdues usual recognition of place and thing. Though important, there must always be readable signals in each painting, if only to lead in the eye and understanding of the looker. He rarely frames his paintings - frames are prosceniums - nature is theatre-in-the-round. Often they are quite big (8 x 6.5 metres is the biggest so far) to remind us of the never-ending scale of nature. The paint can be very thin or very thick – nature is sometimes very quiet and sometimes very noisy and the paint surface is a reminder. Terry started painting when very young, encouraged by a wartime refugee auntie, and by the time he was 12 had been commissioned and sold his first painting. Art school loomed but was deterred by anxious parents, who thought architecture would mean more money, but with the opportunity for arty suits and raincoats. Neither exists these days. Choice of profession is not regretted and the two activities were carried on side by side, each one informing the other. His first one-man painting show was in 1970 and exhibiting has been a continuum ever since. Whatever the theories and rhythms, the consistent element showing loud, big and clear is the sheer joy of paint, which he hopes will be shared by everyone who looks at his paintings. Terry's paintings are for sale on our online shop ... click here to visit his page |
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Trevor Woods and Joanna Woods Trading as Gallery Plus |