Viva Lewes Issue #133 October 2017

ON THIS MONTH: ART
Focus on:
Mount Caburn and Firle Beacon, Evening Light
by Julian Le Bas, 70 x 50cm, oil on canvas, £980
That’s Caburn and Firle Beacon,
isn’t it? It is. From down
by the river bank on the way to
Southease. I’ve often painted
them individually, but I’ve not
until now had the confidence to
explore the relationship between
them – like two elderly sisters.
I like to constantly challenge
myself as a painter.
Did you paint it en plein air?
I always do with landscapes.
Walking there is all part of the
process. It’s also necessary because
I’ve not yet learnt to drive.
I want to capture the mood
rather than get a photographic
or topographical likeness of
what I’m painting. Or several
moods: this one was painted
over three and a half hours one
late afternoon this July, and all
types of weather were going on
in that time. I’ll go back there
again… I like painting the same
scene at different times of the
day, in different weather conditions
and different seasons.
The colours aren’t like the
colours you’d really see… No,
again they are chosen to express
a mood rather than to capture
reality. As I’ve got older I’ve
started using purer colours in
order to try and achieve more
depth to the painting. I’m very
interested in the relationship between
the colours on the canvas
and how they create a coherent
structure.
Does time pass quickly when
you’re painting? Sometimes
I can’t believe how fast. I feel
every painting is like starting
over again, and every painting
gives me the feeling of being
directly connected with nature
and with the subject I’m depicting.
Sometimes, what emerges is
a big surprise to me.
Is Monet an influence? Yes,
I’m a huge admirer of the way
he became immersed in and
absorbed by his subjects and how
he approached the same subject
again and again. Also late-period
Cézanne, for the amazing solidity
there is to everything he paints.
What do you wear to paint?
My favourite green shirt, with
several layers to put on top
when necessary. I always take
several different types of hat.
What painting would you
hang from your desert island
palm tree? The late Rembrandt
portraits would be too much
to live with… I’d love to have
a Van Gogh with me, but what
would really sustain me and
make me want to paint all the
time would be a late-period
Cézanne, like one of the Mont
Sainte-Victoire series.
Interview by Alex Leith
Julian has a solo show at St
Anne’s Galleries, 7th-22nd October,
weekends or by appointment,
stannesgalleries.com
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