Bolt

This small study of and old bolt on a door of the barn is painted in acrylic on canvas.

Hardware holds a certain fascination for me; I like fixtures and the many forms a simple necessity can take . The building here was a working barn and an old one at that.  It was quite bare and I found myself looking at small details around the building, like this bolt.

It caught my eye and I painted it, little details like that often make a really good subject to paint. You can look at the shapes and shadows and get totally involved in looking and interpreting.

Sometimes an object does have particular significance for something going on in life at the time.

This bolt could represent freedom or feeling trapped – I can’t say I remember whether I had any feelings about that when I painted it, can’t remember.

I think this bolt was stuck. The closing part of the bolt had been moved too close and the bolt could not come away enough to open it.

Maybe I was not looking properly when I painted it, surely that can’t be the case! – maybe it really was like that…

Since moving the Gallery to Devon I have been making a series of paintings inspired by small details. The Landscape is inviting but so big. Besides, I had to be available to oversee the work on the building. Small canvasses are ideal in those circumstances.