Barry Hibbert : FEATURED ARTIST OF THE MONTH

Barry Hibbert is a contemporary landscape artist living in Somerset.

“Coastal Cottages on Bryher, Scilly Isles”

” Tell us more about your oil painting ‘Coastal Cottages on Bryher, Scilly Isles’.  How important is travel to your practice?”

My wife and I spent a week in the Scilly Isles in 2015, when we did a lot of walking,  and I did  sketching and  photographing the wonderful scenery there.  We were staying on St Mary’s, but we took  boat trips to other islands, and as a result I have done many paintings of the Scilly Isles.  When we were waiting for our boat to arrive to take us back from Bryher, I made a quick sketch of some fishermen’s cottages where the boats arrive.  This painting was done back in the studio, and is painted with collage, gesso, graphite, acrylic and oil paint on board.  The cottages are in fact cut out bits of paper from magazines.

“Treyarnan Point in Fog”

“Your painting ‘Treyarnan Point in Fog’ utilises cold wax painting medium.  Can you explain more about what this is and how you use it in your work?”

I spent some of my childhood living in Cornwall, and I always have this sense of being drawn back to the county.  We now spend some time every year staying in Cornwall.  Treyarnan Point is just a few miles south of Padstow.  This painting is done with oil paint and cold wax.  I always use water based oil paints as they are better for the health, it is easier to use and you can clean brushes with water and detergent.   It looks exactly the same as what I call oily oil paint.   With this latter  paint you have to use turps to thin paint and to clean brushes.   I mix the paint with cold wax in the proportion 1/3 cold wax, 2/3 oil paint.  It gives the paint a much thicker, impasto look, it makes the paint go further, it enables me to put one layer on top of another before the paint is dry, and best of all it speeds up the drying time.

“Rocky Beach and Stormy Sky”

“Rocky Beach and Stormy Sky’ could be described as being impressionistic and semi abstract in its treatment.  How would you describe your work and which artists have been most influential to your practice?”

Of course, Cornwall does not always have wonderful weather, and I often think that stormy skies and seas make much more interesting paintings.  This painting is also done using water based oil paints and cold wax but on canvas.  The cold wax I use is called “Zest It” and it is British made. The paint I used in this painting is Artisan paint made by Winsor & Newton.  Not only is it nicer to use, but it smells absolutely beautifully too.