40 x 30cm
£395  

Painting of Class 37 on Bargoed Viaduct

The painting is part of the series "Valley Lines: Bargoed to the Bay".

The paintings explore the historical, economic and cultural connections - both physical and emotional - between people and places in the South Wales Valleys and Cardiff.

The paintings invite the viewer to reflect on Cardiff and the Valleys' move from a (physically tough) industrial and maritime economy, based on the mining, transport and export of coal, to an e-commerce, media and tourism based economy of entertainment and leisure opportunities.

This stylised, but other-wise "straight", painting is a view of Bargoed Viaduct in the Rhymney Valley. No "time-shifting" or change of perspective but it is still painted - as a child would paint - with poster paint (gouache) and crayon.

The painting, as represented by the autumnal shades of the foliage, is about coming to the end of life's journey.

The Class 37 locomotive crossing the Viaduct is pulling coal trucks. Empty coal trucks, of course, representing the end of the industrial economy based on the mining and transport of coal.

Railways, bridges and viaducts are common themes in my paintings. 

The viaduct represents the passing from one stage of life to another (growing up).

Railway lines represent the passing of time, as one views the passing of the landscape from the carriage window, or seeing the train pass, as one seems to view the passing of a loved one, or of your children growing up and moving away, while you feel you are standing still and remaining the same.