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For this series drawings I spent a lot of time in Bagley Wood, Oxfordshire creating this body of work, documenting the transitions between the seasons. There is an extreme freedom in the limitation of charcoal, a medium used by humans for over 30,000 years. It makes you examine all the subtle tonal shifts in the shadows and how the light falls.There’s also something about using sticks of compressed burnt wood to depict the loose alive branches that they once fed that feels very linked to the woodland.

During late spring, there is a point just before the weight of the leaves closes the upper canopy of the forest when the light is its most dynamic, different hues of green filter down to almost total darkness in summer. Without the ability to use colour to differentiate forms it forced me to work more on expressing elements of light, movement, wind and moisture. I found myself better able to capture the essence of the seasons in sketches, rather than photos, that I would work up later in the studio. Its sound strange but a winter sketch done with cold fingers and fast jagged lines represents the feeling of winter much better. Similarly the rapid fast changing forms of spring or smooth, full forms of summer. Four seasons and forty packs of charcoal later I’m proud to present Charcoal Though The seasons.

In other news I’m looking for spaces to put on my first live exhibition. I’ve been making art for so long that it sounds strange when I tell people that i've never put on a show in real life, I’ve simply never felt ready. That is until this year. So if you know anywhere I can hire, or any galleries who may be interested in showing my work, please do get in touch. I’m not on social media that much yet you can snoop over some of my old online shows on my website. If you’d like to support me, all the works from this project are available and I have a few smaller woodcuts and digital prints available to buy online.

All good things

Sam :)

Timestamps
0:00 INTRODUCTION
0:42 SUMMER
5:36 AUTUMN
10:33 WINTER
15:25 SPRING