“Paul Finn’s work focuses not only on the landscapes he depicts, but on the way in which the landscape is experienced. Rather than simply assimilating and recording a scene, he places himself, his impressions and his artistic process in the foreground. In doing so, he says important things about the relationship between art and environment, man and nature, seeing and sensory, viewer and artist. “ Dr Anna Maria Barry, Oxford 2017

As he explains:  “I am a landscape painter. I work from observation. I am not an en-plein air painter, nor would I claim that my work is entirely realistic. Initially, I draw from direct observation in the landscape, using ink, pencil or charcoal. Because of this, I am able to paint with a degree of freedom away from the landscape, in my studio. In this way,I try to give a deeper account of the world and my responses to it. Drawings are works in their own right and are not plans for paintings. I want to work the paintings out on the panels or canvases, and enjoy changing, reworking and repainting each work until it seems “right”.

Primarily, my interest is in the depiction and organisation of space. By this, I mean two things: the spatial divisions on the flat surface of the painting, and the illusory space created by composition, mark, colour and scale change. Ultimately, I want to recollect and recreate my initial observations and emotions which I experience in the landscape.”