Chris Neale

Hireath, a Welsh term for which there is no English translation, longing homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the lost or departed.

A landscape artist working in Pembrokeshire, Wales. His work is strongly about place.

  • He  moved with his family to Wales from Devon in 1966 and has lived in Pembrokeshire since 1997. He attended school in Penarth and then studied Graphics in Bristol.

    After a career in Graphic Design he returned to painting some time ago, a passion he has had since he was very young. He has an intense relationship with his subject and sees the landscape with a graphic eye, focusing on composition and colour. My paintings are an attempt to convey the emotions I feel and to share them.

    He says “I spend a lot of time exploring, seeking out compositions and emotionally-charged landscapes in which I aim to assemble the components which have created my emotional response and then discard the rest. My compositions must have something out of the ordinary to them, a sense of drama, colour or some other deep emotional quality. I am fond of flowing curves, influenced by the excitement of following tracks and the anticipation of what lies around the corner.”

    With a love of reading maps, this leads to seeking out locations far from the mainstream. Some locations in Wales have a magnetism that draws him back time after time. There is a Welsh word that expresses this better than any English equivalent – hiraeth.

    Chris Neale’s background and training as a graphic artist shows in the clarity and immediacy of his work.

    His graphic style allows him to create landscapes which are full of warmth and stillness. His lines pull the viewer’s eye into the painting until the landscape envelops us; and the use of contrasting colours to create shade – the afternoon shadows creeping over the fields, and the light playing at the edges of the water is subtle and effective.

    But the apparent simplicity does not mean that there is a lack of detail or subtlety. His limited palette and selective eye is fully able to capture the changes of light and season, and the creep of shadow. The calm studied stillness of the work allows us to look, and to see and contemplate a landscape that can become over-familiar.

    Chris Neale has been living and working in Pembrokeshire since 1997. He has had successful exhibitions with u

I went to The Gallery to see his work and got to talk to him while I was there

 Anna-Marie Young http://thegallery-yroriel.com/

 

As one of our most popular artists here at The Gallery, we caught up with Chris Neale to talk about what its like being a landscape artist in Pembrokeshire and how he sees his own work.

Hi Chris, can you introduce yourself and describe your work?
I painted as a child and teenager, then studied graphic design, working in this profession for many years before again returning to painting. This return was instigated by many hours spent amongst the hills and on the coast path

What is your studio like?
I work from a small studio at the back of my house. There’s just room for my drawing board, art materials, lots of CDs and my studio dog chair

Why do you work in pastels?
I work in pastels, acrylic or watercolour. I like the quality of the colour obtained from pastels as they are almost pure pigment and have a wonderful flat finish like lime wash. I also prefer drawing to painting

Most of your pieces are unique views of familiar scenes – how do you achieve this?
I think every artist sees things differently. My work shows how I see the landscape influenced by composition, colour and only the essential elements that create the emotion of a particular place

The Welsh landscape features predominantly in your work- is that an unconscious decision because of where you’re situated or does it continue to inspire you?
I love living and working in Wales, there is so much inspiration, especially off the beaten track. It is a very fundamental experience that only a Welsh word – hiraeth – can convey. I have no interest in crossing Wales’ eastern border

Do you have a favourite piece from your own collections?
There are bits I like and dislike in every painting but some of the subjects are very special to me, usually the more intimate images like Garn Fawr. Sometimes a painting will just come out like it was pre-determined from start to finish avoiding all the ups and downs that usually occur. These can be the most successful.

What artists or designers do you admire locally and nationally?
Three I admire greatly and who have influenced me are Kyffin Williams, David Humphreys and Frank Newbould

What do you want people who own your work to feel when they look at a piece of yours?
If they feel some of the inspiration and emotion that drove me to create the image then I hope to have achieved what I set out to do

Would you say your style has evolved? And if so what has influenced this?
It is continually evolving as successes and failures occur and as my experience of the subject develops. My use of materials is growing more competent and I hope to retain a loose approach to the subject. My subject as a source of inspiration is as strong as ever and as this is the essential catalyst to creation then that can only be positive.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us!

“My work abstracts the spirit of the west Wales landscape and seascape and brings a new perspective to the familiar. Exploring the land at every opportunity, I want to capture the way it makes me feel”