A painter who will forever be a Cornishman.
This recent series of paintings “Above below, beyond” has come about from a chance sighting of a half-hidden minehead while walking near his home in Cornwall. Jethro became fascinated by the idea of the changing landscape over the course of history, not just above ground but also the subterranean world created by the mining industry and the subsequent impact the mining industry have had on the landscapes and people of his beloved Cornwall.
Jethro says of this work
“The visual narrative and conversation in this series appeared during the first months of painting with automatism back in the studio.
I was determined to strip back and abstract the landscape, and the inspiration that I’d found on that afternoon in Porthtowan began to make sense. I looked at the post war modernist painters for inspiration, searching for clues to pull my own thoughts and brush marks together.
Historically, I’ve worked with thick layers of paint, applied wet with energetic, instinctive marks. This abstract group asked for a different approach - layers of thin paint in washes and glazes. It’s been a huge change in terms of the timescale involved. At first I found it frustrating and uncomfortable, having to wait weeks between layers. But I soon began to relax into this slower pace and process. On reflection, I feel this has been imperative to the series. It’s become a vital part of the narrative, tying the work to the time endured by the miners as they cut through solid rock.
I have woven further thoughts and narrative into these paintings as my mind has swirled over the last few years, but I’ll leave it to you to unpack and discover what lies hidden. As abstract painter Howard Hodgkin said, “The English language is the disease of art.“ I don’t want to affect the feeling you may find.”