These images are a selection of old and new work.
Prices for original work (not prints), range from £300 to £1300.
Red dots beside titles denotes either sold or not for sale.
If you would like to visit Joe in his studio at Raughton Head near Carlisle to see more work or to commission your own painting, please use the contact link.
“For many years I have lived and worked next to the Solway estuary, I still fish in it using the traditional Haaf net.
Since childhood, I’ve been acutely aware of the action of the tide; a place that was safe to walk on yesterday can today be too treacherous.
I hope that my paintings in some way convey the idea of the impermanence and shifting nature of the Solway estuary and also the influence of the weather over time on this environment.”
Lake District Paintings
“The Cumbrian fells are shaped chiefly by two things; man’s efforts to exploit them and the weather. These two things nearly always inform my paintings of the Lake District.
Animal tracks; buildings or their remains; walls and mine workings; fells appearing above low cloud; deep stream gullies, mist and rain often appear in my work in abstracted form. Their importance good or bad is magnified.
I live close to the northern bowl of the Lake District and try to paint the fells with the evidence of human intervention – walls, buildings, paths and agriculture but with nature always victorious.
I try to portray the land returning to its original state as an optimistic rather than a pessimistic view”
Marine Paintings
” I am interested in all aspects of Cumbrian life and industry. One area of exploration is the Vickers ship building yard at Barrow-in-Furness.
Before ship building at Barrow, airships were built and used to patrol the coast looking for enemy submarines during the First World War. His Majesty’s Airship number 4 had some hair-raising incidents in its life but mainly when it was trying to dock.
These paintings explore the life and issues arising from the Trident class submarines.”
Figure Paintings
“Cumberland wrestling is usually performed on grass at county fairs, but leaving out the lake district backdrop the eye is forced to concentrate on the action of the contestants and their traditional embroidered costumes.
The other figures I paint are often participants in Cumberland shows, local athletics meetings or Haaf net fishing.”
Life Boxes
“Boxing objects together, positioning them into a narrative of sorts is very satisfying. These boxes tell stories and hold memories of people, places and times. Some have information about incidents and ideas.
Initially I studied sculpture on my Fine Art Degree, later moving on to printmaking. Now I seem to paint most of the time, but my ‘Old Self’ is obviously still apparently in three dimensions.”
Other Work
“These are images of my work which don’t fit into any of the other categories. Whilst most of the commissioned work is related to the Solway or the Lakes District, several haven’t so they appear here in other work.”
