Old Roads and Tall Stories

‘Old Roads and Tall Stories’ began as a response to my last exhibition; ‘Road Trip’.

In a land where travelling in cars for long distances was commonplace, it is only fitting that the stories of those times and journeys became paintings. Airplane flights were expensive, it was cheaper to travel by road, and everyone did it, and thought nothing of it.

Everyone has a story of their travels; some stories are funny, some have historical relevance, but all are important. They almost always start with “I remember...” giving you a clue as to their importance to the storyteller. They centre on unreliable cars, narrow roads, long journeys and uncomfortable conditions. Yet everyone that told a story treasured it, they kept it alive in the re-telling.

Now we fly everywhere, but what are we missing?
The stories I was told included country characters and tricky local conditions that often fooled the weary traveller.

Start talking to old friends and inevitably the stories of old road trips come out, you’ll see what I mean.