The Warrior, the Thinker and the Lover

I caught up with Rob over his latest painting to hit our Liberty Tree gallery, where we discussed the inspiration behind this new original art, and his choice of stylistics to express it.

Thanks for taking time to talk about your new painting, it seems very different to many of your recent paintings, what was your inspiration?

"Not to sound to deterministic, but much of our world seems to be planned, and since the pandemic our interactions and intentions are more considered than ever. It seems rare now to wander freely, without intention. The same is true of painting. Most of the time I am following directions from the landscape and architecture, occasionally I want to break out and just wander and see where it takes me."

So the ‘The Warrior, the Thinker and the Lover’ is a reaction, a desire to be spontaneous?

"Yes, although I think of it as a minds wander, an exercise of self-discovery with no pre-determined outcome. I've been painting some very large structural subjects which have required meticulous planning and are very detailed pieces on large canvas, ‘The Warrior, the Thinker and the Lover’ was a very personal piece I worked on in parallel when I needed time away from the larger more controlled canvas."

Was there a specific reason for using acrylic on canvas rather than board for this piece?

"Canvas reacts differently to the brush. The canvas gains its tension from the support, so is resistant to pressure whilst retaining the usual texture you would expect from canvas. In general, canvas takes the paint from the brush, so the build up of paint is more irregular, reacting to light in a similar way to how a gemstone reflects light."

From what you said earlier, it sounds like the painting was a very personal reflective process, what's the story?

"Many of the pictorial elements are revisited journeys: turrets, castellations, boats, lush meadows etc. Eventually I ended up with a narrative which reflects my life in three ways, those being the Warrior - guarding, protecting, providing; the Thinker - meditating, planning, progressing; the Lover - joy, fruit, happiness."

It's a very refreshing piece, and reminds me of some of your earlier work, you seem to have enjoyed painting it, will we see you follow a similar process in the future?

"I always enjoy the exploratory nature of painting. It rarely goes according to plan, but that’s part of the fun."

You can view and buy ‘The Warrior, the Thinker and the Lover’ and other Rob Hain original art at the Liberty Tree gallery.