Gallery
The Deckled Edge –
where the ocean shapes the land.
My current project draws inspiration directly from the fluctuating coastal edges and wave tumbled beaches of the South West of England.
I am intrigued by unique eroding rock forms and the corroding human structures along our shoreline.
The point of conflict where the tide relentlessly dissolves the landscape.
The examples below represent a very personal response to the land and an opportunity to reflect upon our fleeting presence in the saga of deep time.
The project has evolved over many years, beginning in sketchbooks and developing into multiple paintings and prints.
Concertina books encourage a two directional linear narrative, working across multiple pages, in several books, over an extended period.
The ebb and flow of the ocean mirrors the continual push and pull of studio experimentation.
“The next line one draws, in association with the one before, will have a compulsion about it which
will carry one forward into unknown territory.” Barbara Hepworth
The need to realise my perception of the world through the physical manipulation of paint and print media is at the core of my art
practice.
With 40 years experience as a designer, maker and arts educator I am still motivated by the next creative challenge.
The large works on paper represents the next stage in this journey.
I am currently working towards larger landscape paintings, print works, textile hangings and relief sculptures.
I am planning to spend the next 18 months (2025/26) exploring new media, print processes and alternative approaches to mark making. The intention is to use this time to freely play, to create, to experiment and ultimately to develop my Creative Practice in new and unexpected directions ....... all in response to the
rugged SW landscape. (Arts Council Grant Award 20205/26)
The next fundraiser Sketchbook Journey Programme (No. 6) is running concurrently, focusing on Shorelines.
This will provide an exciting opportunity to share my creative journey with others.
Through a number of planned collaborations, shared exhibitions, workshops & mentoring opportunities with professional artists 2025/26 I intend to undertake further process based research.
Public Engagement is at the core of my own arts practices as an educator, visual artist & Arts Centre trustee.
To involve the public in creative dialogue & to celebrate the value of The Arts with the wider community has always been important.
Through my online & in person programmes I strive to encourage participation, engagement and a greater appreciation of the work of artists, makers and other creatives..
With new teaching opportunities, future exhibitions, presentations & publications already planned for 2026/27
I hope to provide fresh inspiration and new creative experiences for many others.
Douglas Anderson
www.dandersonarts.co.uk
Arts & Education
DOUGLAS ANDERSON
Douglas Anderson’s expansive mixed media pieces are created in a tidal flow.
In his concertina sketchbooks or long deckled-edge paper pieces, he creates marks and drawings inspired by the textures and patterns in tidal cliff faces.
These marks are worked upon in one direction, before doubling back and flowing over what has been laid down. Douglas is fascinated by the everchanging friction between the land meeting the sea.
Like his work, this relationship is one of addition and subtraction: the shore is eroded, dissolved, built, layered and fractured.
He is interested in the constant shift and change in what seems initially quite solid, reflecting, in some ways, his life in grief. Life after loss has been fundamentally altered and unsteadied. Instead of fighting this, Douglas recognises this flux in the landscape and the wider universe in general.
We are small things that are buffeted, changed, and expanded throughout the winds of cosmic time.
Kate Reeve-Edwards Artist biographer / writer
Print 