Simon Palmer: the Wensleydale watercolourist

May 21, 2024 4:27 AM

"Simon’s paintings are figurative but not photographic. Semi-abstract, they are a blend of abstraction in the shapes – rectangles, curves, circles – and identifiable features. The colour palette is muted; he says he is more interested in tone and texture than colour."

More Simon Palmer. More Simon Palmer, over at the wonderful Lines and Colors, where (if I remember correctly) I first saw his work.

posted by cupcakeninja (11 comments total)

the studio views are lovely! reminded me of a neat installation of a full artist's studio in an Edinburgh museum i can't remember
posted by HearHere at 5:13 AM on May 21 [1 favorite]

Opening up the first link, the painting seen made me immediately think of Grant Wood, the American artist. The strange perspective, the ever so slightly unrealistic depiction of the trees, etc. These paintings of Palmer have the same sort of expressionistic feel. Nice.
posted by njohnson23 at 6:20 AM on May 21 [5 favorites]

Lovely! Love trees. These are very cool trees.
posted by Glinn at 6:57 AM on May 21 [1 favorite]

Opening up the first link, the painting seen made me immediately think of Grant Wood, the American artist.

Yes, definitely a strong hint of American Regionalism from the early 20th century...
posted by jim in austin at 8:01 AM on May 21 [1 favorite]

Love the pictures. If Wensleydale really looks like that I must visit
posted by Phanx at 8:13 AM on May 21 [2 favorites]

I haven't looked at the article yet so that I won't be disappointed by finding out that these are not cheese paintings.
posted by inexorably_forward at 8:56 AM on May 21 [2 favorites]

These are rather lovely. Is he currently in favor in the art world? ..I love watching the trends and how artists go in and out of favor...
posted by Czjewel at 9:38 AM on May 21

I’m not sure. I think his work aligns with some groups and trends, probably more in illustration or regional/British spaces.

Really like the link to Grant Wood upthread. For me, he feels a little like… hmm… a George Tooker/Charles Vess mashup? That’s not right at all, but maybe usefully wrong.
posted by cupcakeninja at 10:16 AM on May 21 [2 favorites]

Wow, as a painter who has focused on watercolors in the last 4 years, this is inspirational work. What's remarkable is he's able to avoid the sense of "busy-ness" in his compositions, something I (and many others) struggle with in landscapes. Although he has many details in his paintings, he has a great ability to keep things abstract when needed: ie you don't need to paint every leaf in a tree to capture the essence of a tree.

Also:

Simon says he has a photographic memory and can absorb information as he walks. “I couldn’t work from photographs. The lens is deceiving and plays tricks with what you see. At art school I was given a camera with a wide-angle lens. It helped me to see the landscape and accentuate the perspective, and I do that automatically now.”

I envy his ability to do this ☝️

I'm trying to wean myself from photographic reference, because he's right, photos can play tricks with the perspective and it's very hard to break free from their flatness and give the scene real depth and light.

Thanks for posting this, great to see watercolor work posted on Mefi!
posted by jeremias at 10:26 AM on May 21 [3 favorites]

I love these.

Very interesting to see the American comparisons, when for me the nearest comparisons are English(and are, moreover, mentioned in the article) - so, Ravilious, Samuel Palmer (& a dash of Hockney) and Stanley Spencer. Of course, the people we're all referencing are part of a particular moment themselves (Sam. P excepted) and it's not particularly surprising that they should call out alike to us if we see someone revisiting that moment in a new way
posted by aesop at 10:51 AM on May 21 [2 favorites]

Oh these are nice, shades of Thomas Hart Benton or maybe even Grant Wood, as I see others have noticed. But with different, British sensibilities, much more appreciation of nature, and great textures. Thank you for posting this!
posted by lwxxyyzz at 11:33 AM on May 21 [1 favorite]