James Rushton HRNEAC (1928 - 2025)

Statement

For most of his working life James was concerned with ceramics as a way of earning a living, both as a lecturer and practising potter. Gradually, he returned to his first love which was and always has been painting. He worked in oil, watercolour, gouache and pastel, whichever suited the mood of the moment. Painting a portrait in watercolour was always for him an exciting challenge but perhaps best achieved through the medium of oil. Indeed, portraiture was his preferred activity although landscape was a constant source of fascination and had more to do with mood and atmosphere than topographical constraints. When outdoors, sketching and the camera were useful tools, but the serious work was confined to the studio. Wordsworth’s phrase ‘Emotion recollected in tranquility’ comes to mind. He had few role models or heroes and allegiance changed with the weather, but if he were to name three contemporary painters who influenced him, they would be Paul Nash, Peter Greenham and Giorgio Morandi, all for different reasons.