Red Bridge by David Bannister
David Bannister is a remarkably gifted artist that showcases subtle hints in his work that play on both the abstract and literal mindsets. In his piece Red Bridge merely a shade of red is evident, making the name of the painting a unique choice. While peering down the canal, the red brick bridge catches sunlight and shines ever so slightly in the distance. It brings subtle attention to the background where most paintings tend to focus the eye at the foreground initially.
Red Bridge is an amazing example of an experienced artist using their expertise to entice the viewer to look deeper into the piece. This painting features elements that make you want to take a journey deeper into the canal to see what is just beyond the image. David Bannister has also, expertly included the faint image of the bridge within the canal which is a remarkable use of balance and perspective.
What we can gain from Red Bridge is emphasizing the unexpected. It asks us to look for signs of variation in colour throughout the world around us. Even when the shade is deep making it harder to pick out intricate colour, when the light shines through, it can plainly be seen. The image gives us a feeling of warmth and hope for the future as we drift through life’s many changes.
David Bannister is a classically trained artist that uses raw emotion in his pieces to take the viewer to a new place. Although most of us cannot say we have ever been to this particular spot along the Montgomery Canal, the beauty that it has been given in this painting makes us all want to make the journey to see the beauty David depicts in Red Bridge. Let us ask the artist what is really going on in this stunning piece.
What is your process for your paintings? Does it start with a clear idea and end result, or is it more organically manifested?
The process I take with my painting tends to vary. The new series of paintings inspired by the local canals, towpaths and landscapes follow a very different process than that used in my larger and more imaginary and visionary works. Although more figurative and with a sense of scene or a view, my intention is to try and evoke a feeling or mood that might be driven by my own sensibilities but hopes to resonate more universally with the viewer. There is also an abstract quality to some of these works too, emphasising or exaggerating observed forms, line and colour.
With my larger and more expressive paintings that are loosely part of a series I entitled Fields of Consciousness; the process is driven by spontaneous mark making and imagination. I charge the process with my interests in ancient knowledge, new theories in science, on physics and the natural world. Music plays a large part in the creation of work too, and helps to excite emotion and feeling that lubricates the process.
Composition is important to the process, and although there is a tangible plan when laying out a painting, the process of the “doing” takes over and this then leads the way.
Is this a spot you have visited many times or a place you happened to find one day?
I have walked this stretch of canal a number of times and it nestled in my mind. There was one particular day when the scene made sense to me. It was a very hot and humid summer afternoon and the bright, almost white daylight created strong contrast with the dense vegetation to the edges of the towpath and canal. I was able to capture the fleeting warm flush of the red bricked bridge as the sunlight beamed through the gap between the bridge and the trees. The strong, dark shadows from the overhanging branches created a natural background to the white tufts of meadowsweet heads and embroidery of their stems, and the highlights of fine grasses.
What does the painting really mean to you and what do you want viewers to take from it?
This painting brings many things together for me. It offers a sense of place, a feeling of that moment on that towpath and the light that created the scene. It also came at a time of change for me in my personal life, and the walks along the canal served as a kind of sanctuary and freedom to contemplate the past, the present and the future.
Where do you see this painting hanging in the near future? Art gallery, residential home, or someplace else?
I can imagine the painting being hung in an individual’s home where the painting can have its own space and be enjoyed by its owner. I think it also might work in a care setting where it might offer a window to the outside, natural world and be an object of meditation and reminiscence. Perhaps a care home, hospice, hospital?
What attracts you so much about the style of art you portray? Why landscapes?
I am drawn to landscape and to portraiture. The landscape however, offers so much variety of line, colour and forms. So much to explore and it is free! Not only the natural forms of Nature but the contrasts of Mans intervention and manipulation of it. The ever-changing seasons, weather and fauna. It offers a canvas to explore our internal Nature too- our response to the outside world echoing our own internal composition and mind maps. I experience a tussle between the figurative and the expressive. This is evident too in my portrait work. I think I am always attempting to expose the essence of the subject matter and the end result sometimes appears more naturalistic and other times, more expressive and abstracted. It’s hard to talk about one’s own style. I would rather leave it to the viewer to describe that.
It is strange, but even when drawing and painting portraits I envision a map of a landscape of the person I am trying to portray. It is an exploration of the face- as an orienteer would navigate his way over land, taking his bearings from prominent features and counting his steps- the information on the map (face) providing precise location and detail that is particular to the place (that person, persona)
What was the last part of Red Bridge you painted when you finally realized it was complete?
The last brushstrokes were the fine line of the grasses, highlights on the meadowsweet heads and the sunlit patches on the towpath.
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