Watch this behind-the-scenes video - https://vimeo.com/1091762680 – in which I take you for a walk around the painting itself, along with a reveal of the main stages that this painting went through, not to mention the many, many months, taken to complete it.

SUBJECT – As a youngster I was fortunate enough to have frequent access to the ocean. Staring at the swell sent my imagination roaming, for the sea has no borders and links us to every part of the world, in a way no land route ever can.

It is no surprise that the pull of the waves remains with me. A favourite walk of ours lies close by, one that leads us steeply downhill past the Old Salmon Bothy, where an old stone slipway slopes downward to disappear beneath the surf. Beyond, lie sandy shores and rocky outcrops. The water is crystal clear and rock-pools abound with life.

It is on one of our walks that we came across the deep sea-pool that features in this painting, ‘The Sound of Distant Shores’. The breaking waves and rattle of pebbles and shells, being sucked sea-ward by the water’s retreat, remind me of my childhood vision. These same waters have lapped on foreign shores. Exotic and peopled by races of every colour, their call is echoed in the sound of the waves that reach our own ears.

COMPOSITION - For some time I had wanted to paint a companion to my painting ‘Ghosts of Summer’ – but it required time and patience to find the right composition that would fit successfully into such a wide format. The breakthrough came on finding the sea-pool on one of our local shores. It was perfect and would accommodate a figure placed on one side to echo the balance in ‘Ghosts of Summer’.

Having found my subject, the next question was size. This proved not to be straightforward. The subject matter was dictating a smaller scale - which is why I decided upon a Grande Miniature.

Working on such a wide vista is indeed quite a balancing act. One has to keep the viewer’s eye happy within the confines of the frame, guided by several focal points across the composition. The figure : distant rocks : foreground rocks : foam and wave patterns : the cresting wave.

The painting is actually one of a captured wave. held within the boundaries of the rocks, which encircle it in a wide oval - once again mirroring the oval in ‘Ghosts of Summer’.

Unusually, instead of breaking waves at shore level – you, the viewer, are looking down from a very high vantage point. We are actually seeing across the tail of the wave and the pattern of foam it has left behind. The crest of the wave (to the right) is about to break on the rocks. The clue to the event lies beyond the line of rocks at the top of the painting. Here you can see the far section of the same wave breaking in the distance. Thus, the wave’s power is held and focussed by the circle of rocks surrounding the transparent pool.

One other interesting element is the placement of the figure. She is watching the wave’s progress – her gaze carries ours toward the crest of the wave as it reaches its destination. Watching the reveal, you will note that she was moved several times, her final position being pivotal to the rest of the composition.

METHOD & TECHNIQUE - My long-acquired knowledge of traditional techniques and how to exploit them, is essential, when working on a grand vista, such as this – which requires the build-up of many layers, gradually working through from the darkest recesses to the lightest sparkling highlights.

The traditional technique of impasto, not only allows me to create texture and movement with directional brush-strokes, the very positioning of those strokes will also affect how light falls on the surface of the painting – which, in turn, influences the viewer’s experience.

Glazing, with transparent mixes of paint, allows me to selectively enrich and enliven specific areas of impasto. Tinting with fluid mixes of light-coloured, semi-opaque paint, allows me to push back specific areas, which in effect, throw forward other elements, thus creating, distance, depth and volume.

With each subsequent layer of impasto, followed by glazes and tints, the overall colour and balance across the entire painting is refined – so that I realise the effect of light and shade that I had in mind, when first plotting out this composition.

Layering is essential - it allows the initial build-up of texture, using directional brush-strokes of impasto (thick) paint, through to the finer, thinned-down mixes, of glazes and tints.

There is absolutely no rushing this process, it requires meticulous attention and considerable patience; for the overall result has to be re-assessed along every step on this journey of discovery.

The result is almost inevitably an expected delight and it is this that drives me to push the limits of my work and especially so in using traditional techniques.

As always, we thank you for reading and watching, with best wishes from Eileen and myself,”

Paul Taggart

Artist : Author : Presenter : Producer