Dorset
West Dorset was a constant source of source of inspiration to Gerry, who made it his home for over three decades. He was inspired by the drama of its steep hills and valleys and the link with an ancient Jurassic past. The permanence of its fossils contrasts with the impermanence of the constantly eroding cliffs. In winter, the structure of the landscape is more evident, especially after snowfall when the copses and hedgerows contrast strongly against the white fields.
Ancient Sealife
Autumn Reds
Blackthorn Winter
Coast Path
Copse Curves
Corscombe Copses
Dawn Blush
Eggardon Sky
Enclosure
Hornbeams
Island
Lyme Light
Patchwork Fields
Powerstock Fields
Summer Copses
Towards Eggardon
Marsh Barn
Towards the Light
A Way through the Trees
Wasteland
Flood Tide
Jetty
Ebb Tide
Seamarks
In the Hollow
Clearing
Spring Light
Golden Light
A Glimpse of Lyme Bay
Eggardon Sunlight
Squally Day
Terraced Fields
Pathway to the Sea
Gamboge Sky
Fissures of Light
Pathways to the Light
Sea Light
Promontory
Blue Candescence
Blue Cadence
Autumn Clouds
Beachcombing
Winter Solstice
November Dawn
Beach Finds
Water Meadows
The Dorset Series
These semi-abstract paintings combine distant views of hills, sea and sky with a closer scrutiny of the etched and weathered surfaces of rocks. Sgraffito and other graphic marks are used to describe their fossil traces and delicate linear patterns, while contrasting this filigree lightness with more broadly brushed passages. The artist responded to the richness of colour in the limestone rocks (yellows, through oranges and iron reds to grey-blues) and the similarities between their shapes and more recent, man-made forms such as Iron Age burial mounds, strip-lynchets, footpaths and field systems. The investigation of links between ancient and modern forms remained a recurrent theme.
The most recent of Gerry’s paintings of Dorset, covering the last five years of his life, saw his colour palette moving towards ethereal blues and creamy pinks, sometimes coinciding with the colours he used for Greek seascapes. Paintings became more about the sea, light and atmosphere. Traces of manmade objects can occasionally be seen; perhaps a fishing net, or the colours of scraped paintwork on the side of a boat, or a fishing buoy.
A selection of paintings by Gerry Dudgeon is for sale and available to view at http://kingfisherart.co.uk
Kingfisher Art is an online contemporary art gallery based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, specialising in art fairs and pop up galleries around the country, as well as online sales.