Martin Bentham

This is a bit of a catch-up from the beginning of October.

I went to the RWA for lunch and found that Mendip painter Martin Bentham was exhibiting his oil paintings in the New Gallery.

As is my way, I didn't read the gumph on the way in and set to studying the pieces for what I could get out of them (as I do).  Working clockwise from the door, I observed that his small canvasses didn't quite succeed with the bold, thick-textured technique he utilised.  They seemed very muddy and, well - a mess.  Much more rewarding were the larger canvasses, where the technique was in proportion with the space.  The more paintings I looked at (and the dates they were painted), the more I realised that what I was witnessing was a developing style in the artist, which was moving away from 'fine art' to a more abstract form of expression.  This room was roughly the fruits of five years work.

I enjoyed his large paintings, rural scenes, moss covered dry stone walls and skies painted seemingly from Van Gogh's colour palette.

On my way out I passed a smiling man ascending the stairs - judging from the self-portrait on the gallery wall I'd just left, it had to be Martin Bentham!  I stopped to thank him for the exhibition and ended up joining him back in the gallery to discuss aspects of his work.  He seemed really delighted to answer my questions.

I especially liked his 'The Apiarist 2' (the image below is borrowed from the blog Beyond The Frame)

I told him I could appreciate it is a composite of several strong elements -

• The bramble infused hedge
• The dry stone wall
• The hives and boxes
• The complex, flower strewn grass

Martin explained that he finds working in 'plein air' difficult, due to changing light conditions.  He prefers to use photographs and sketches.  He brought in the dry stone wall element to balance the picture.  The inspiration for the carpet of flowers is drawn from his own back garden.

On the subject of the growing abstract nature of his later works - he uses a palette knife.  Martin found that using brushes influenced him to draw with them, whereas the palette knives don't affect him in the same way.  Martin prefers oil paint, as it dries slowly and permits him to rework his paintings the day after he has started.  In addition he likes to work directly from the tube of paint, as mixing paint on the canvas has an immediacy and a chaotic nature that appeals to him :)

Martin Bentham is a lovely chap. He also has the most extraordinarily rough skin on his hands, which made for a memorable farewell handshake!