migration IV  

mixed media on paper 
38x70cm 
© 2006 Tom Cartmill                                          private collection     

migration IV

mixed media on paper
30x70cm
© 2006 Tom Cartmill                                          private collection

migration IX

ink on mixed media on paper 
31x71cm 
© 2007 Tom Cartmill                                                

untitled I (from the migration series)

mixed media on paper 
25x48cm 
© 2006 Tom Cartmill                                                          private collection

61²  III 

mixed media on board
61x61cm
© 2007 Tom Cartmill                  private collection

untitled (from the migration series) 

ink on mixed media on paper 
46x33cm
© 2006 Tom Cartmill 

about the migration series

The paintings in the 'Strata Series' are multi-textured and multi-layered. Initially built up with numerous layers of gesso, at differing depths, layer after layer of paint is then applied. I use a combination of different paints,contrasting their varying properties. The juxtaposition of different materials and textures is an essential part of my practice. My method of working also involves the making of my own paints, where I am able to saturate a medium with pigment, and apply it over or alongside, factory made paints.The paintings evolve slowly, layer upon layer. Some colours and motifs are painted over, no longer seen. Others are visible through successive coats of paint, having been rubbed through, scraped, worn away. These traces and suggestions of former layers are evidence of events from an earlier time in a painting's past and of the progression towards its resolution.The title for this series is a thematic key to the work. It indicates the physical process of making the paintings,as described above, and the clear geological reference relates to the fact that the paintings are also about the accretion of time and experience.