ASH1 ashar - Magic in the Air

Title of artwork: Magic in the Air
Medium: oil on cradled board
Size: 61x61x5
Year: 2023
Price: 800
Description: Them there hills - byways of the Quantocks
When I started working on the Quantocks, as always, I was looking for wide-open spaces, big skies, and forever views. The Quantocks has this in abundance with sea views thrown in. I had no intention of following in the footsteps of the Bards. I like to relate my work to poetry, but that usually comes into play once a piece has been finished.
Coleridge and Wordsworth, the Quantocks are associated with them and their poetry. It is a part of the identity of the region. Making it hard to wonder ‘them thee hills’ without feeling a pang of Romanticism, for they helped give birth to the Romantic movement here. Wondering about appreciating just what it was they saw and must have felt for the place. How could I not revisit their works, written whilst living and roaming in this special place. There's a kind of magic in the air, on 'them there hills' that I am sure Coleridge was very aware of.