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Born in 1970 <strong>Jim</strong> <strong>Whitty</strong> grew up travelling. His father’s work with the British Council meant <strong>Whitty</strong> spent his childhood in Belgium, Nigeria, Malawi<br />
and Greece. One point of constancy was the family’s cottage on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He was always fascinated by nature as a child: both observing<br />
clouds and sunsets and exploring landscapes by being outside sailing, rock-climbing or surfing.<br />
<strong>Whitty</strong> did an Art Foundation course at Brighton School of Art, then studied painting at Glasgow School of Art. He enjoyed being in Glasgow: responding<br />
to the contrast between the city and the wilderness in the surrounding countryside –especially the Isle of Skye.<br />
<strong>Whitty</strong>’s painting technique begins with quick broad strokes to map out the composition and the ‘feel’ of a canvas. Then the process begins of adding<br />
more and more detail, and crucially knowing when to stop. He works in his studio in Wiltshire, and the paintings can take anything from a few hours to<br />
a few months to complete. He has a photographic memory; so the scenes he paints are part imagined, part memory and even part dream. The canvas<br />
moves between the wall and the floor, paint is put on, taken off, thrown, splattered and glazed.<br />
The artist says that nature ‘never ceases to amaze me. I find the woods are particularly good [for injecting a dreamlike quality to my paintings] because<br />
not only are they a constantly shifting space, but they are already loaded with their own deep-rooted mythology. They are a place of shelter, but danger,<br />
a place to escape modern life and get lost, enveloped in nature, and when the sunlight dances through the new green leaves … they are a place<br />
of magic.’<br />
<strong>Whitty</strong>’s themes are universal: the woods, stars, sea, and weather patterns such as a snowstorm. The artist creates an almost meditative quality in<br />
his work. He is striving for a pared back simplicity that the viewer can get lost in for a long time. There is an ambiguity to these scenes that change in<br />
different lights and absorb the viewer in to their world.<br />
1. Bridge oil on canvas 90 x 140 cm
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