by jamesnaughton | 15 Mar, 2016 | Final reflections, Moran and Me, Naughton and Moran, The Exhibition | 3 Comments
All Good things A long time to reflect I thought I’d give myself some time to reflect properly but certainly not as long as the time since my last post. In wanting to communicate some idea of the project having a lasting impact on my work only patience has... read more
by jamesnaughton | 17 Dec, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
The Finale. This is the painting that eventually sat next to Moran’s ‘Nearing Camp’ in the Gallery at the very end of the show. There was always a certain inevitability in me revisiting this view of Tollgate rock and the Palisades but only when I... read more
by jamesnaughton | 2 Dec, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
This was the last painting I started, and by this point I wanted to feature a large piece in each different phase of the exhibition. It seemed a natural choice to gather the many sites of natural phenomena together in a “The Wonders of Yellowstone”... read more
by jamesnaughton | 18 Nov, 2014 | Naughton and Moran | 0 Comments
Tales and Details During the Canyon phase of the studio work it became clear to me that much of what I do attempts to place the viewer in a position which would be otherwise inaccessible. In this piece I had a desire to create a degree of the disorientation that I... read more
by jamesnaughton | 13 Nov, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
A Mountain to Climb Feeling like this was all one big learning experience I approached each large piece in a slightly different way, this Teton painting was made by a gradual scaling up from a very small sketch to a work that was 60x40cm and then finally the 6ftx4ft.... read more
by jamesnaughton | 13 Nov, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
The Big Country I’m sure that anyone who has followed this blog, through it’s various twists and turns, will have become aware that one of my main ambitions was to see how the experience would be communicated in a number of very large pieces. Even in the... read more
by jamesnaughton | 16 Sep, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 1 Comment
A Long Anticipated Return As the trip culminated in the visit to Green River this was mirrored in it also being the last destination in the studio too. I got to this point feeling the pressure of the exhibition looming and also the challenge of creating work on a... read more
by jamesnaughton | 8 Jul, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Research Trip Diary, The Exhibition | 0 Comments
A Beast for the Eyes I am so happy that I decided to produce some work which stemmed from Buffalo. Some experiences reverberate in such a way, the original moment has so many facets that we have to return to it. I filled a couple of sketch pads with studies and this... read more
by jamesnaughton | 11 Jun, 2014 | Naughton and Moran | 2 Comments
Earth Power One of the most interesting challenges I faced in the studio was the time I spent trying to evoke the natural phenomena of Yellowstone. Whether it be the Geysers, steaming pools or the mineral terraces of Mammoth, each are still underpinned by the creative... read more
by jamesnaughton | 3 Jun, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary, The Exhibition | 4 Comments
This Time Last Year The anniversary of the trip seemed like the perfect time to return to the blog to tie up all the loose ends. I can’t believe that it’s a full year since we were sat on the plane with all the anticipation of what might be. Looking at... read more
by jamesnaughton | 4 Mar, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, The Exhibition | 5 Comments
Pictures from an Exhibition This a collection of images from the preview night. I arrived with Andrew an hour before the start and had chance to have a final look at the show quietly. A really lovely late surprise was the gallery deciding to add a Turner water colour... read more
by jamesnaughton | 27 Feb, 2014 | Naughton and Moran | 4 Comments
A Big Night Tonight is the preview for the exhibition and as the blog has been such an important part of this odyssey it feels right to gather my thoughts about what this means to me here. I will keep posting and hope to give a comprehensive communication of the final... read more
by jamesnaughton | 24 Feb, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 2 Comments
Action Man I think I always knew there would be a time when the work would possibly take over and my attempts to catalogue it’s progress on the blog might become more difficult than I had assumed. When the work first began I was struck that my passing thoughts... read more
by jamesnaughton | 20 Jan, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
Water Falls An update on my watercolour attempts is long overdue. I’ve shifted my attention onto the Canyon as subject matter, with the results so far seemingly separating along two paths. I have a sketchpad which I decided would be dedicated to the experience... read more
by jamesnaughton | 19 Jan, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
The Lost Canyon After completing an initial sketch for the larger Canyon works I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks working with colour glazes over the umber base. I usually varnish after this first layer, this is great as I can move the colour around and... read more
by jamesnaughton | 6 Jan, 2014 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
Links to the Past Each page of the buffalo sketchbook seems to be an invitation to discover more about the animal, myself and the very nature of art. I am so used to dealing with the subject of landscape these studies have a freedom and experimentation that seems born... read more
by jamesnaughton | 26 Dec, 2013 | Naughton and Moran | 5 Comments
Holiday Greetings and a big thank you to everyone reading the blog for your continued support since May and very kind comments. I’d love to return to Wyoming in Winter as soon as I am able, in the meantime I can dream, this has been inspired by the Canyon work... read more
by jamesnaughton | 6 Dec, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 2 Comments
Dreamworks I am preparing to move up in scale from the Canyon studies. My thoughts keep returning to a dream I started to experience a day or so after first visiting the site. In the dream the RV was precariously balanced on the edge of a collapsing precipice. I can... read more
by jamesnaughton | 29 Nov, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
Time and Pressure I arrive at the print room, it’s moved to a different campus but there is a very reassuring presence here, in the form of the printing presses on which my first prints were produced 20 years ago. A printer has a very unique attachment to... read more
by jamesnaughton | 26 Nov, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
College Days I want the project to have as much impact as possible, perhaps in the same way that Moran had such a positive influence on my early paintings, my work and Andrew’s photographs in the exhibition might hopefully have a similar effect on young artists,... read more
by jamesnaughton | 26 Nov, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
Gold Rush Today sees the first day of the initial Canyon phase and I feel that over the last few weeks I’ve given myself a very good idea of how the rest of the project may progress. Following the trip structure seems to be working, both in terms of a natural... read more
by jamesnaughton | 31 Oct, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
Mountains or Molehills It’s strange how the passage of a day or so can bring clarity to what seems like a conflict demanding an immediate solution. I can see now that there is no conflict, I’ve just been giving myself different opportunities, trying a few... read more
by jamesnaughton | 13 Oct, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 0 Comments
Peaks and Troughs Moving into the final stages of the Teton work a number of experiments have jarred whilst I am painting them. It’s almost as if they could be someone’s else’s paintings. I realise, in some, I am trying too deliberately to depict the... read more
by jamesnaughton | 13 Oct, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 4 Comments
Animal Magic I have the feeling that we were very lucky with our experiences of wildlife on the trip. We got very close to a moose, close enough to both brown and black bears but not as close as we’d like to a ghostly white wolf. These sightings were usually... read more
by jamesnaughton | 6 Oct, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 4 Comments
Moving On Up I get the feeling that it’s time to move up in scale from the Teton Sketch paintings. In these larger works I try a few different approaches, each starting with a slightly different intention. In some of the paintings working directly from... read more
by jamesnaughton | 5 Oct, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 2 Comments
Water baby Over the next few days I’ve continued with the small studies, as well as a few water colours at a similar scale. The challenge for me is to use watercolour in a way which stems more naturally from the way I paint, rather than feeling tempted to adopt... read more
by jamesnaughton | 28 Sep, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 4 Comments
Where to start? So after all the anticipation, preparation and reflection, I have a day of exasperation! I spend a number of hours finding more tidying to do, knowing full well it’s classic task avoidance. Eventually I am struck by the realisation that I... read more
by jamesnaughton | 20 Sep, 2013 | Naughton and Moran | 2 Comments
Room to Grow I’ve settled on working in the studio in my home, at this point. With a bit of a clean up and reorganisation of the space to enable a number of different working areas are at my disposal. I thought it might be interesting to keep a photographic log... read more
by jamesnaughton | 16 Sep, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Studio Phase Diary | 2 Comments
A Rest is as Good as a Change It’s only been three months since the trip to America but in one of those strange quirks of nostalgia I feel like its been an age since actually being there, happily the experiences ideas and the desire to communicate them are... read more
by jamesnaughton | 21 Jun, 2013 | Naughton and Moran, Research Trip Diary | 4 Comments
Final thoughts to Begin With So there it is, I am back in Bolton and the first stage of the project is complete, it’s a good time to look back, in preparation for the time when I will be producing the work. A few weeks ago in the introduction posts I asked the... read more