Groeslon-based artist Stephen John Owen has just launched a colourful exhibition of canvases at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw in Llanbedrog near Pwllheli.
The pieces veer from bold landscapes and striking sunsets to observational pictures which record and celebrate everyday activities and people going about their daily lives.
Twthill. © Stephen John Owen
Most start as sketches as Stephen wanders the landscape close to his home, and are then transferred to canvas with huge swathes of bright colours.
He told me that his favourite locations for sketching are the Foryd by Caernarfon or at an old Roman look-out post overlooking Twthill, Caernarfon. It’s the highest point in the area where his eye stretches as far as Anglesey and he sees the rows of houses as almost piled one on top of the other, the roads that connect them seemingly invisible.
Unlike many artists, Stephen always has a very clear idea in his head of how he would like the finished product to look.
He told me: “I usually make a sketch and take a few notes and then I transfer the sketch to the canvas but not much changes. I’ve always been able to envision the finished product before I start.
“Where I use my imagination is with the colour as I often like to flip it so there is, for example, a green sky and blue grass.
Glaw Foryd Bach. © Stephen John Owen
“So many painters have captured Wales in dull colours and I want to instead create a vision of Wales as I see it – bright, colourful and happy.
“I’m a real optimist and I think that transfers to my paintings.
“But there is also that sense of hiraeth or longing for the past in them.”
Stephen uses strong violets to create a certain atmosphere and mood, such as the sky in Glaw Foryd Bach, the sky and slopes in Yr Wyddfa a Crib Goch or over the rooftops in Twthill. He likes to vary his palette to revisit images and imbue them with a whole different meaning.
Llainffynnon. © Stephen John Owen
Red is also vibrantly present in the land in Storm y Foryd and in the intense sunsets in Llainffynnon and Ar ôl y glaw.
He believes this new collection, entitled Here and There, marks a slight departure for him as it sees a concerted effort to include more people in his paintings
“They are also bigger in scale and a bit more impressionist in style,” he added.
“The local area never ceases to inspire me - it’s absolutely beautiful. I only have to go a mile in either direction to find the coast and the mountains - it’s like heaven.”
Taid a fi. © Stephen John Owen
The exhibition contains a series of canvases of particular places, footpaths or woods that are familiar to the artist. The style varies from confident wide brush marks that border on the abstract to the more detailed paintings of people.
As Stephen himself says ‘there are no half-measures’, no compromise.
Here and There is at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw until 23 March 2014. For information visit www.oriel.org.uk.
