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NEW BEGINNINGS
LANDSCAPE STORIES OF HOPE AND RENEWAL
From two series of work made years apart, these paintings tell stories of patient waiting, tending and hope planted. The Rathfinny Series began with a trip to Tunisia and a fascination with traditional farming methods.
In 100 days of English Rainbows, I explored the rainbows I photographed in Sussex through paint and poetry.
The Rathfinny Series began with a trip to Tunisia and a fascination with traditional farming methods still used there. Field after field of hand-planting and harvesting early crops reminded me of the timelessness of our relationship with growing our food, trusting the land to respond and celebrating the results. Respect, hard work and gratitude for the land are universal ideas, affect us all indirectly every day and resonate in the cycle of planting and harvest celebration still celebrated in rural communities in England. I returned home pondering a new series of work based around these ideas. A few weeks later, as I drove over the Sussex Downs, I caught the moment that members of Rathfinny Estate were planting a large field of vines, the inspiration for these paintings.

Rathfinny Planting by Ashley Hyland
Dyptich. Oil on canvas. 6'x4' in 2 parts. Catalogue no. AH029

Rathfinny Skies by Ashley Hyland
Oil on canvas. 26"x20" Catalogue no. AH028

Rathfinny Barns by Ashley Hyland
Oil on canvas. 26"x20" Catalogue no. AH027

Rathfinny Planting by Ashley Hyland
Dyptich. Oil on canvas. 6'x4' in 2 parts. Catalogue no. AH029
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In the 100 days of English Rainbows Series, I explored the rainbows I photographed in Sussex as part of 'The100dayproject', an international artist project encouraging experimentation and sharing.
From January to May 2021, I pushed thoughts of hope, joy and new growth, reflection and change further through abstraction using photographs, memories and watercolour. The resulting photographs, watercolour paintings, poems and collaboration created a platform for responding spontaneously to the emotion of these images. These oil paintings are the result of that process and 100 days of thought and development.

Resonance by Ashley Hyland
Oil on canvas. 3'x4' Catalogue no. AH069

Reunion by Ashley Hyland
Oil on canvas board. 8"x8" Catalogue no. AH072

Carousel by Ashley and ZQ Hyland
Oil on canvas board. 8"x8" Catalogue no. AH071

Resonance by Ashley Hyland
Oil on canvas. 3'x4' Catalogue no. AH069
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YHA South Downs Artist in Residence 2020 - 2021
NEW BEGINNINGS
LANDSCAPE STORIES OF HOPE AND RENEWAL
Oil paintings by Ashley Hyland
SPRING AND SUMMER 2021
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