Tom Benjamin NEAC

Statement

I am committed to the practice of plein-air painting. The sense of the subject being about to slip away as the light changes lends the working process a sense of urgency. I am often drawn to subjects which have a sense of slippage such as the coast where wet mud or rock pools gives way to water which reflects the sky, or woods where light falling on a visual tangle creates tension between the form and weight of the subject and the play of light which both reveals and disguises it. 

I tend to produce a group of paintings in each location and there are some places I have been working in for many years. Paintings are sometimes completed in a single session but more often I return to them aiming to carry on when the light and weather are similar. I paint quickly and relish the improvisations required by painting in front of a quickly changing subject.  

Bio

Born in Totnes, 1967

Brighton Polytechnic (Foundation 1985-6)

Norwich School of Art (Fine Art Painting 1986 -89)

Teaching: West Dean College