Work of Helena Barnes & Nigel Barnes
Sat/Sun 28th Feb to 26th Apr 11am-5pm. Open during the week by appointment.
Helena Barnes – Artist Statement:
Raised in Northumberland, and now living in the Highlands I have always sought out Big
Sky Country. Walking in wild and open places, climbing mountains, or swimming in the sea.
These experiences underpin my practice.
I work on multiple canvases at once in my studio by the sea on the north coast of Scotland. I
layer and remove paint in an effort to capture the fleeting light, shifting seasons, and liminal
spaces where hills give way to moorland, peat to bog, sand to sea.
Working primarily in oils and acrylics on panel and canvas, I’m interested in how material
behaviour — absorption, layering, removal and viscosity — can evoke the shifting, unstable
and liminal qualities of landscape. The slowness of oil paint allows me to work with duration;
surfaces are built up and eroded over time, mirroring the geological and atmospheric
processes that form the terrain itself. The fastness of acrylics allow me to work gesturally and
cover large surfaces. I am fascinated by the alchemy of paint — how emulsion retracts from
oil, how acrylic clings on top, how a brush or scraper dipped in white spirit can shift a surface
as dramatically as weather reshapes a landscape. This dialogue between material and place
underpins my practice, reflecting the instability and richness of the land itself.
Nigel Barnes – Artist Statement:
The work on display tells the story of my artistic journey, which continues with the wonderful work of my daughter Helena with whom it is a privilege to share this space.
At school my exercise books were covered with sketches, the art room was my refuge and art was my favourite subject. But like many young boys I was persuaded to study something sensible so I chose philosophy instead.
I have always been fascinated by the infinite beauty and variety of the human form and face not to mention their challenges as subject matter, and have always sought out groups and opportunities to draw people with or without clothes.
I take notebooks on our camping holidays and enjoy sketching whatever is around. A number of works from these trips are on display.
Over recent years I have attended specialist short courses on portraiture at the London School of Fine Art and at the Glasgow School of Classical Art under Michael Docherty. During this process I have moved towards using oils rather than the acrylics or pastels of my earlier work. I am a member of the Healey Expressionists, a small group who paint together regularly and have exhibited at Healey Church and the Forum Cinema in Hexham.
In preparation for this exhibition I enjoyed a few days of playful therapy sharing Helena’s studio in Cromarty, enjoying her encouragement and guidance as I explore wider and more creative uses of paint. I feel this is a process which has just begun and perhaps in my second childhood I can at last enjoy immersing myself in the world of the painter. Recently I have been working on a few local landscapes trying to catch that dull overcast winter light.
