51Colin Taylorabove: Delhi Chandni Chowk. (old market) India. 26 inches x 21 inches. 660mm x 533mm Acrylic on canvas. I was fortunate to meet up with Colin recently at his studios in Manchester earlier this summer, where I saw his some of his recent work. Colin has been paintings for over three decades and his love of nature manifests itself with his other passion, which is climbing mountains. Sydney Nolan (Australian artist) that gave him the inspiration to utilise nature as the backdrop for a narrative within a painting. In 2011 he embarked on a four year project which was to paint Manchester from the tallest buildings in the City. His objective was to identify the common ground between natural landscape painting and the built environment. The completed works were exhibited at the Contemporary Six Gallery in 2015. This show led to a new commission from Simpson Haugh & Partners (architects) who asked Colin to record ‘visually’ the construction of a new building (in central Manchester) from start to finish. His thoughts about the commission are expressed here;- “ the fast pace of construction changes the identity of the location steadily and with a certainty you don’t experience when painting the natural landscape. This commission offered the opportunity to bookend that process in one distinct body of work. For a landscape painter I think that’s a huge priviledge” image ©Colin Taylor 2015-2017

52 above: Manchester-Liverpool Road Inter-City. acylic on canvas. 24 inches x 31 inches 600mm x 787mm Sky Blue Cut Edge’ 18 inches x 24 inches. 458mm x 600mm Acrylic, pastel, card relief and charcoal on linen. all images ©Colin Taylor The two paintings (shown above) were born out of the commission. Colin produced a number of works which he experimented with by fixing ‘cut’ card onto the canvas. For Colin this is something new and he sees it as a way of delineating form on the work. On a few works he placed the ‘cut’ card and extended them off the edge off the canvas’s and the painted image. It’s a method he intends to pursue. For me, this could be related to both Synthehic Cubism and Mondrian’s ‘thinking’ about the painting becoming ‘part of the wall’ and not an object placed upon it. The paintings above were part of the ‘New Lines in Space’ exhibition at the Contemporary Six Gallery in Manchester in June 2017.

53Mike WeedenMike Weeden began painting in a serious way only tenyears or so ago. His childhood artistic talent promisedmuch and he was encouraged to enrol at art school, buthe decided to join the Royal Navy and see the world.He first exhibited in West Yorkshire which encouragedhim to take up Art on a full time basis around 2007.Both he and his family moved to Scotland, which gavehim a new fresh approach to his art.He has seen some modicum of success over the years,with his work being acquired for corporate collections.In 2011 he became a member of the Scottish Society ofArtists. His work was also exhibited at Todmorden FineArt Gallery, which is run by the renown artist agent andGallerist, Dave Gunning.For me, some of his work has the look and feel ofa James Ensor painting with a dash of Max Beckmannthrown in for good measure. Some of his earlier work isclassic figurative, but here (to the left) we can see himventuring more into abstraction and a looser applicationof paint. I look forward to viewing more.all images ©Mike Weeden 2017

54 Hans Reefman digital painting example Hans works from his home studio n Arnhem, Holland, Currently he is experimenting with digital painting combining this with his experiences using ‘caustic’ paintings of a semi- sculptural’ nature using a variety of textural techniques. His ‘effects’ and ‘textures’ interest began whilst studying in Paris in 1975 when he poured nail polish over a piece of paper and became surprised how it maintained its colour depth and sheen. He now combines ‘nail-polish’ with acrylic, varnish and cement to discover new effects He decided, not without a smile, that this type of ‘painting’ should be called ‘Polishpainting.’ His paintings are mainly abstract-figurative and to my mind he shows the influences of Paul Klee compositional wise, mixed with a touch of texture not unlike what Jean Dubuffet experimented with. image ©Hans Reefman 2017

55Shahin de HeartLanscape & language series -160mm x 2000mm oil on canvas Shahin is motivated by poetry. The paintings made with broad gestural abstraction have a lyrical sensibility about them. I have only seen her work on the www, but I have promised myself to see the work in real life when next I visit Germany. Shahin was born in Tehran. Her earlier studies were in portraiture between 1968 and1971 at Ron Baskerville Studios in Manchester, UK. She settled in Germany where she studied visual arts at the University of Aachen followed by a spell in Cologne studying art history, archeology and anthropology. She first established her studios in 1980 before moving to Dusseldorf and then Remscheid-Lennep, Germany, where she now lives and works. all images ©Shahin de Heart 2017

56 Lanscape & language series - 1200mm x 1000mm oil on canvas Shahin de Heart ...in the artists own words... ”...Sustained by the words of the Persian poet and mystic Hafez (1325-1390 ) I have painted my dynamic pictures. Persian calligraphy and Western expressive art come together movingly. My pictorial painting convey my message of a better united world without frontiers. With the series “Landscape and Language” I have combined my abstract writing pictures with abstract different landscapes. It is very important for me that these pictures do not look like a collage. They have not any border and are always three dimensional. My interest in this subject was awoken, as I noticed Persian words and notions in other languages and countries.” Shahin de Heart 2017 all images ©Shahin de Heart 2017

57159 Bethnal Green Road London E2 7DG Kayla Mohammadi in the summer Selects (Group) Exhibition July12th through to August 12th 2017 CALDBECK GALLERY 12 Elm Street Rockland, Maine. 04841 USA

58 painters Tubes magazine - special summer feature- issue #4 ABSTRACT - alpha - omega - abstract a comprehensive historical feature and Art examples of twelve abstract contemporary painters