In this series of articles we consider the painting styles of professional artists, whose work can be found in both private and public collections throughout the world.
For Scottish artist Robert Kelsey, his painting style has evolved over five decades.
“Talking about a painting style that has been developing for 50 years is no easy matter,” he says. “The one element that has been constant over that period is my interest in catching the light on the landscape. Fleeting light effects, light on water and the pattern of clouds are important to me.
As an oil painter, the act of placing paint on canvas is a vital and necessary function. I love the first stroke of a heavily paint laden brush on white linen canvas. I paint quickly and build up layers of paint, usually completing a painting in one session.”
In her Foreword to the book Robert Kelsey - The Artist, the radio presenter, journalist and author Libby Purves writes: "Robert works in a way characteristic of Scottish painters, from a brilliant white ground and lets it gleam through the pigment, sometimes almost dry-brushing it to convey the shine of a cloud. If you have a Kelsey seascape in your house and glance towards it on the greyest urban day without turning on the light, it gives back innate brightness. Like a window; like a view."
