Images © Steve Williams: (Left) Untitled, 2018 (Right) Sunbathers, 2018

YORK artist Steve Williams returns to Lotte Inch Gallery, in Bootham, York for a solo show of new works, The Sea, The Sea.

"This evocative and beguiling selection of new paintings from this talented and exciting artist highlights Steve's distinctive approach to depicting Yorkshire’s rich landscape and coastline and offers a fascinating insight into a unique, artistic character," says gallery curator Lotte Inch.

"Steve Williams is an instinctive painter. His pictures take shape through the practical and emotional process of painting, not through adherence to a fully formulated plan. Through the exploration of his own response to his subject matter, Steve allows his paintings to develop as a result of his mood or subconscious at that given moment.

"The works stem from an original idea, location, image or situation and then come together of their own accord, influenced by the physical and emotional context within which they are painted."

Inspired by the “deep blue” and the experiences and emotions that stem from this most powerful and ever-shifting environment, Williams’ works for The Sea, The Sea, simultaneously evoke myriad responses within the viewer and portray an equally varied state of being from the painter himself.

Williams is a self-taught artist who works from his home in York, infusing his paintings with fluidity, energy, colour and texture. His aim is to achieve a balance, a harmony and completeness, in all of his artwork, working with a palette knife, acyclic paint and tester pots of emulsion paint to produces large, bold canvasses that "frequently depict familiar, regional locations through a less familiar artistic language".

Williams has exhibited previously at Lotte Inch Gallery and in Yorkshire more widely, and last year he was the recipient of the Welcome to Yorkshire Choice Award at the 100 Artists, 11 Countries exhibition at Kunsthuis Gallery, The Dutch House, Mill Green Farm, Crayke.

Williams is a regular participant in York Open Studios and has work in private collections across Britain. When not painting, he is a gardener at Newby Hall's award-winning gardens near Ripon.

A selection of ceramics from Kathryn Sherriff and Hatti McKenzie and jewellery from Sarah Drew and Zoe Catherine Kendall, among others, continues the exhibition’s thematic exploration of the sea and the Yorkshire coastline.

Make a note in your diary that Steve Williams will be in the gallery on Saturday, November 10 from 1pm to 4pm, offering demonstrations and the chance to talk informally with the painter about his work.

The Sea, The Sea – New Works by Steve Williams runs at Lotte Inch Gallery, Bootham, York, until November 17. Opening times: Mondays and Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; other times by appointment on 01904 848660.

Charles Hutchinson