Graham Boyd

"over the many visits to Cornwall I have experienced the luminous cliffs in the maritime light and the cause and effects of the geological interface with climatic forces for which I tried to seek equivalents in my material canvas and paint and use of colour."   Graham Boyd, 2006
 
The light and landscape of Cornwall were formative influences on the work of painter Graham Boyd, whose latest work is to be shown at the salt gallery in Hayle from September. A childhood in 1930s Bristol meant that the light of the West Country laid the foundation for his later preoccupations with luminosity, developed in travels to Africa, America and  the Scottish Highlands.
 
Despite an international reputation and work in collections around the world, Graham has returned to Cornwall to paint throughout his life. For twenty years, as Head of Painting at the University of Hertfordshire (formerly St Albans School of Art), he brought his students to experience the light and colour of his work for themselves. He had close connections to the abstract expressionists based around St Ives in the 50s and 60s and his paintings' bold and dramatic colours reflect their artistic concerns. The paintings glow with blues, greens and reds, their textural acrylic paint punctuated by gouges of colour in repeated patterns always accented with light.
 
The salt gallery last showed Graham's work in 2004 and is delighted to welcome him to Hayle again. Curator Louise Fox said "Graham's artistic career spans half a century but his work is current and invigorating, with a beauty drawn from his fascination with the drama of colour in the landscape".