Snow in Mile End Park   1986

Grand Union Canal, Summer   1986

  

When I lived in Bow, I loved wandering up and down the tow path past the red chimney, observing activities such as fishing and seeing the trees change and grow with the passing seasons.

 

The light of the East End can sometimes offer a clarity and definition of colour that is very evident along the canal, where the water reflects back the light from the sky and I was constantly drawn to this. In these two paintings I wanted to show the stark contrast between the dreamy atmosphere of Summer and the stark clarity of the same stretch of water in Winter.

 

Today, the saplings whose longevity I feared for, in terms of both vandalism and the weather (Note how they lean perilously towards the left in the Winter scene) are strong, mature trees, the council flats on the opposite bank have long since been replaced by more bijou habitations but still the light remains the same, casting glow over the urban landscape.