ARTIST
Ar tist David Edmond per fectly captures beach life in his latest series of works. He tells CAROL BURNS how the Kent coastline has inspired him
The coastline seems a natural place for artists. The light, the changing weather, the endless possibilities of seascapes and landscapes, not to mention the contrast between busy bustling beaches and a quiet contemplative expanse of empty sand. But ironically, the beach can offer little visual inspiration for artists. It can lack landmarks, and colours are often limited to the blues and grey of the sea and sky, and the yellow ochre of golden sands. Under the paintbrush of a lesser artist, beachscapes can be unfocused and underwhelming.
But artist David Edmond has taken up the challenge. The beach has become the latest vista to capture his artistic eye with the result of a series of stunning beachscapes that capture the pure joy of beach life in all its many forms.
David brings colour to his work through vibrant parasols and the endless beach accoutrements that make up the perfect seaside day out. And instead of buildings or rock formations, the detailed figures in his work become landmarks.
The subjects of David’s figurative paintings are varied and generally developed from the artist’s photographs during his own days out at the coast. And these works are inspired by the Kent coastline. He doesn’t identify the place in his titles, and the more abstract backgrounds make it impossible to identify, offering up a sense of the universal: it could be any beach anywhere and by extension those people enjoying themselves could be you.
Despite the populous views of many of his works, often featuring many people at play, they remain, at heart, peaceful. His subjects are captured in a state of contentment.
Edmond’s body of work is evidence of just how varied our experiences of the beach can be from joyful to thoughtful, loud and boisterous to quiet and contemplative.
David came to painting in his fifties but has been creative all of his life, originally studying furniture design and printed textile design at the Royal College of Art London. He began painting in 2009 and he has quickly gained fans with gallery shows at the Mall Gallery and prestigious Royal Academy Summer
