Artist Maggi Hambling showcases scenic seas in Lowry exhibition

Dec 31 2009 Flintshire Chronicle

ALTHOUGH it is seven years since Maggi Hambling, one of Britain’s most distinguished contemporary artists, made her first North Sea painting, there’s no sign of her passion for the ocean diminishing.

As visitors to her Lowry exhibition will see, Maggi’s relationship with the sea continues to flourish as she remains consumed and inspired by it.

Maggi keeps painting the sea as she tries to capture that perfect moment when the wave curls, crashes and breaks.

Maggi explained: “Early each morning I draw the sea, much as a pianist practices scales, or a footballer limbers up.

“Back in the studio, in oil paint on canvas, I try to make the waves rise in their curves of the moon, become almost solid for a second, then crash, shatter and dissolve.

“The sound and speed of their action is what I’m trying to paint.

“Even after all these years the sea never ceases to surprise me. Everything is always in a state of flux, everything is always changing. I feel compelled to keep coming back, to the sea, to keep painting the sea to try and capture it.

“I love the fact that nothing is the same two days running.”

Maggi Hambling’s extremely powerful paintings of the North Sea are shown alongside LS Lowry’s own deeply compelling sea paintings and drawings.

The Sea, a book by Maggi Hambling, accompanies this exhibition.