http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMay 2020 57PRACTICAL
I
first painted in Great Yarmouth ten
years ago and my journal notes from
the time stated: ‘Turning eastwards
and just off shore lies the Scroby
Sands Wind Farm. A huge complex of 30
turbines creating enough clean energy
to power 41,000 homes. A much-needed
and successful enterprise, and one that
is being replicated around the UK coast.
‘Sadly, as I stand on the Yarmouth
shoreline gazing at the turbines I
find myself caught up in knee-high
discarded plastic – takeaway drinks
cartons emblazoned with the branding
of local amusement arcades; plastic
buckets and spades, used once
and then discarded; and the usual
assortment of coffee cups, burger boxes
and crisp packets. I can’t help but be
puzzled by the strange dichotomy of
the huge amount of lazily discarded
plastic waste in sight of one of the UK’s
first and largest wind farms.’
But times change. Today, the local
Sea Life centre organises regular beach
cleans and, a few miles up the coast,
Yarmouth’s tiny neighbour Sheringham
has become Norfolk’s first town to be
awarded Plastic Free Accreditation.
Coming from Plastic Free Penzance in
Cornwall, the first town in the country
to gain the accreditation, I know first-
hand just how much this benefits the
community.Constable and Yarmouth
In the early 19th century Great
Yarmouth became a much-favoured
resort for the well-heeled, and as such
was often painted by the Norwich
School artists, including John Sell
Cotman and Robert Ladbrooke as
well as my muse for this location, John
Constable.Constable and
Yarmouth
Born in East Bergholt, Suffolk, in
1776, John Constable is recognised
today as one of the most important
of all British artists. One who not only
laid foundations in the way we now
paint, but possibly more importantly,
Constable helped to shape the way that
we view the landscape and nature itself.
In 1819 at the age of 43, John
Constable began to make daily sky
studies complete with copious notes
describing weather conditions, time of
day and dates. For Constable, the sky
was the key element to all landscape
art.
In 1821 he wrote ‘The landscape
painter who does not make his skies a
very material part of his composition
neglects to avail himself of one of his
greatest aids. It will be difficult to name
a class of landscape in which the sky
is not the “key note”, the “standardof scale” and the chief “organ of
sentiment”.’ Constable knew that skies
were the key to a landscape painting
full of atmosphere, romance and drama.
John Constable made three paintings
of the beach and jetty at Yarmouth,
each one slightly different in tone,
composition and atmosphere. As always
he paid meticulous attention to the
dramatic sky, dwarfing the seemingly
vulnerable jetty, which is picked out
in deft strokes of dark sepia against a
slate grey sky studded with fast moving
clouds.
His friend and fellow artist David
Lucas produced his favourite of the
three Yarmouth jetty paintings as
a mezzotint. Constable was very
interested in the commercial aspects
of his work and so a few extra details
were added to the print, including the
addition of two small figures standingGlyn Macey
studied at Falmouth School of Art. He is
the author of several books and has made
several films. He has been commissioned
by Greenpeace, the RNLI and UNICEF
and his paintings can be seen in galleries
around the UK. For details of Glyn’s acrylics
workshops, other products and to see
more examples of his work, view:
http://www.glynmaceystudio.comGlyn Macey continues his journey documenting
the changes to the English coastline with a painting
inspired by a well-known artist. This month he
records Yarmouth pier using mixed media
p Leisureland, ink, oil pastel and collage, 18 3 18in (45.5 3 45.5cm)