Strata XXIII

mixed media on board
61x61cm
© 2004 Tom Cartmill                  private collection

C

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Strata XIV

mixed media on board
30x34cm
© 2004 Tom Cartmill                                         private collection

Strata IX

mixed media on board
30x36cm
© 2004 Tom Cartmill

Strata V

mixed media on board
61x82cm
© 2004 Tom Cartmill 

Strata VI

mixed media on board
45x50cm
© 2004 Tom Cartmill 

Strata XXI

mixed media on board 
61x61cm
© 2004 Tom Cartmill 

about the strata 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.