The SPUD Open is fast becoming a notable regional exhibition. Each year we look for a universal question that might resonates within our Spud Community, the New Forest National Park and with our wider reginal audiences. We feel that we are at a tipping-point, with so many relevant subjects to our area, environment, personal well-being and social relationships, now might be a good time to evaluate what to hold onto and what we might let go of.
This year my painting “On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree” has been selected.
I wrote: Recent visual impairments as a result of cataracts and eye surgery have prompted me to destroy and overpaint my work to communicate my frustration at my loss. The title is taken from the poem "Place" by ecological activist and poet, W.S Merwin, who mourns a different kind of loss.
On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree, 2024