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House & Garden, South Africa. APRIL
2005
Jeremy Houghton’s watercolour landscapes are
buzzing with energy, colour and the speed of
their creation. There is nothing of the old
fashioned, slightly staid pastoral scenes
traditionally associated with the medium. He
pushes the spontaneous nature of watercolour to
its limits, making use of what he calls ‘lucky
mistakes,’ His works are bold, and almost
abstract, and very of the moment. ‘Working
quickly,’ he says, ‘I let the water and obvious
brushstrokes do much of the work. I like to
capture a mood, a glimpse.’
Right now it is Houghton’s Windows that
are gaining attention. Each picture is made up
of lots, sometimes hundreds of 3cmx3cm paintings
cut from large sheets of paper that he has
literally ‘blitzed’ with paint and scanned for
interesting and evocative shapes. Their titles,
such as Moon Walking, Kissing In The
Bushes, and Swinging The Cat, are
inspired by one of the ‘found’ images contained
within each frame. Bold, bright and amusing,
they are a striking alternative to the
tried-and-tested abstract oil on canvas.
Hatta Byng |
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