Oil on Board: Small Works from the Back Room
Paintings made between exhibitions, at a scale that fits a wall at home
The back room of the studio is where the painting happens, and it is where these boards were made, mostly in the gaps between larger exhibition commitments. They are small enough to work on in a few sittings, which suits the way the studio runs: a shared space, shared costs, and a schedule that has to bend around whatever is being pulled on the press that week.
Board was a deliberate choice over canvas. The surface is firmer, so the brush marks stay crisp instead of sinking into a weave, and a thin ground of ochre or burnt umber can be laid down and left partly visible. The palette stays narrow on purpose: ochre, charcoal grey, burnt umber and white. Working within that limit means the decisions are about pressure and edge rather than about mixing another colour.
Each board sits somewhere between a study and a finished work. They are shown unframed or in simple timber trays, and the studio keeps a written note of the ground colour and the date on the reverse of every one, so a painting can be traced back to the week it was made.
Why board, not canvas
A rigid panel holds a sharp edge and lets a loaded brush sit on the surface. Canvas gives a softer, more forgiving mark, which is not what these paintings are after.
A narrow palette
Ochre, charcoal grey, burnt umber and white. Four colours, mixed wet into wet, with the ground left showing through in the lighter passages.
Notes on the reverse
Ground colour and date are written on the back of each board. It is a plain record, kept so the studio can say when a piece was painted and what it was laid on.