Robert Newton

ROBERT NEWTON lives and works in Northumberland. He started sketching and painting at an early age, but initially pursued a career in electrical engineering. While working as an engineer, Newton joined a local amateur art group and in 1995 he began serious art education, studying at Sunderland University. He graduated in 1998 and has been painting professionally ever since. His first solo exhibition was in 2001 and since that time he has exhibited widely and his work has become increasingly collected.

Newton’s work is based in the traditions of British landscape painting with some of his best work coming from allowing his mind to explore tangents, boldly and uncompromisingly painting with a freedom that disregards the outcome. His bold application of paint may obscure his attention to detail; he uses broad brush strokes to depict large areas of his subject on small canvases but he is always in tune with the landscape. His palette changes with the seasons; yellow and red in autumn shift to grey and brown in winter, with brighter greens and blues in spring.

Artists Statement‘I describe my work as "Painting Nature," as a direct response to my immediate surroundings; exploring colour, composition and expression yet maintaining the very traditions of British painting. Making sketches as well my own visual notes I paint intuitively and expressively with bold sweeping brushstrokes that sum up whole passages of my subject. Painting on location and in the studio, I often rework paintings intuitively to produce a completed work’.