Menonday Art Vibe: Island Vista

I kept going back to this painting from the RSA Watercolourists exhibition. This artist also had two other paintings in the show. A birdwatcher himself, Darren Woodhead paints only en plein air. Nature is his studio. He also likes to scribe/journal on his works. The writing is a little difficult to make out, but I'll give you what I can deduce from it.

"6th November 2023. Barnacle Geese flight over Loch Gruinart, Islay. Stormy, heavy showers, [___ ___]

9/16' Sky full of great [___] Islay landscape.

1305 stoat [___] my painting as a springboard to catch and kill young Rabbit, creating the [___] footprints here in [___]!! Wonderful!!

If you look closely at the gap between the two writings, there is the dearest, quickest brush sketch of a stoat, though I am not sure I can make out footprints. The body of the painting, though, with the skein of geese and those louring clouds, is captivating. Knowing Scottish 'elements' as I do, this captures the essence of sitting out in the wilds and experiencing the bluster. I swear I can hear the geese. I can feel the wind and the moisture it carries. 

This is one of those works that definitely suffers from not being physically with it. Here it tends to look flat, but in reality, despite being a two-dimensional rendition, the painting exudes dimension and life.