Gill Bustamante's Gallery Back

A 30x30 woodland path abstract landscape painting in rainbow colours. This painting was painted after a walk I took near Glyndebourne in East Sussex. It was a beautiful clear autumn day and the path was lined with trees glowing yellow, red, purple and green in the low autumn sun. This path led up to a steeper path that eventually goes to the top of the South Downs. I tried to capture my impression of the place in an abstract, possibly expressionist style using very thick wet oil paint and I worked into (wet into wet) over the course of two days. I wanted to capture the low angle of the sun and the impression of the light through the leaves picking out glimpses of ivy on the ancient trees, ferns and leaves in autumn golds and greens. I was very pleased with the result as it gives a satisfying flavour of the scene and how I felt being there rather than trying to be traditionally realistic. I love paths such as these as I always imagine something fantastic being about to be discovered just around the corner. Sometimes I am rewarded with a glimpse of a deer or fox but usually a view through trees to another world keeps me very happy.

A 30x40 inches original oil painting of an abstract woodland landscape in Spring with bluebells and a dryad. This painting is art nouveau and semi abstract and it shows a dryad (tree spirit) emerging from her tree so that she can attend to bluebells in her woodland garden. The colours range from deep purple through to cool blues, greens, magenta and golden yellow. I have used golden yellow in to give the idea of light glinting off of the trees and flowers in small beams of light. My aim was to catch a bit of the essence of the colours and light through trees that you get in a Spring woodland and to show the colours and exuberance of a bluebell wood but as an impression rather than making a botanical study. The dryad was added in later because I rarely paint people so thought I would make an exception. I spend alot of time walking in woods and forests around Kent and Sussex and I am fascinated by the atmosphere you get in them. Some woodland is welcoming, some can be sinister and I always feel as if I being observed so why not by dryads as well as the birds and foxes and wildlife?... Painted on deep edge canvas, white edges, no frame needed.

A 40x40x1.5 inches under the ocean painting with fish. In this underwater seascape, the fish are gold and grey lilac striped angelfish which although are fresh water fish usually, have found a way to live happily in my ocean of saltwater. The water above the fish is turquoise and blue and sparkling and you can see the surface of the water from below it rippling gently under the sun as a Caribbean sea does. On the lower lower part of the sea surface you can see sparkles of light and the reflections of the colours of the fish. The fish are swimming in formation (I do love the Red Arrows) and their delicate fins and tails overlap and coordinate with each other in a dance that could not be done without liberal artistic licence (I love that too). Behind the angels is a blue backdrop of deep blue water and below them you can see the sandy pinkish seabed with light patterns dancing over it cast from the waves above. Finally, although not too obvious in the photos, there is a line of soft violet that runs between the receding sea bed and the deep water in the distance. This line glows in certain light and looks fabulous with the aqua colours of the sea. This is a another in a series of under the ocean paintings featuring fish that I have been making since some Caribbean holidays taken a few years ago. I spent most of my time snorkling and observing water and light and patterns as well as the sea life below. I sometimes paint tropical fish in my seascapes but also, as here, place freshwater fish in them. I like the idea that they could have this much space which they do not really have in aquariums. Painted on deep edge canvas with edges painting white. No frame needed.

30 x 30 x 1.5 inches semi abstract landscape painting of two deer in an an autumn wood. The background of this autumn inspired landscape was painted in a loose, abstract style with a few trees and leaves hinted at and the idea of golden light coming through trees. Some of the beams of light shine onto a clearing where a red deer stag and a doe have just appeared. I wanted to try and recreate the ethereal nature of deer as well as the experience of a walk in an autumn forest. It is something many people love to do as there is an atmosphere under trees that is both reassuring and a little melancholy in the autumn. Around the deer I used some bright gold yellow which adds to the magical element of the painting. The colours are warm and autumnal and are reflecting what I see around me right now in the Ashdown Forest area of Sussex (October 2018). Painted on deep edge canvas - edges white, no frame needed.

30 x 30 x 1.5 inches semi abstract green painting of a lake, trees, pink wildflowers and a red bird. This painting gives an impression of a lake glittering through trees in summer with willowy pink and red flowers in front of us in the foreground. It shimmers and blurs and is is abstract but also very obvious in what it depicts. A red cardinal bird flies across the scene making a perfect contrast to the green of the landscape. It was inspired by a walk I had around Bewl lake in Kent. It is an impression of a perfect summer day. It is green and luscious and full of possibilities that are impressionistic and expressionistic and a little art nouveau. Painted on deep edge canvas - edges white, no frame needed.

A large 36 x 48 x 1.5 inches large contemporary landscape painting of two deer in a snowy birch tree forest. It is painted in semi abstract, art nouveau style with realistic deer contrasting against the abstract landscape. The trees are loosely based on aspen or birch trees and the perspective is arranged to make the deer look as if they both have their own path into the woods. They are arranged almost as a mirror image of each-other because to me that looks balanced. The paint is very thick in places and patterns can be seen forming in the snow if you look closely at it. It was inspired by a trip the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey where there are herds of of roe and red deer including a white stag. I always find deer enchanting and ethereal and in winter they are even more so as they can be spotted more easily than usual against the pristine white snow. However they can still vanish in the blink of an eye and mange to retain their mystery. Painted on deep edge canvas, white edges, no frame needed.

30 x 40 x 1.5 inches semi abstract landscape on canvas of a desire being made real. This is an unusual painting for me in that it took a few years to complete. It was inspired by a desire I have to live in Switzerland - a beautiful country as I found out when I was 20. I fondly recall sitting on the side of a mountain in Interlaken in a field of wild flowers and buttercups and looking down on a glittering blue lake with an ancient wooden church below me and cow bells tinkling beside a waterfall. It was a complete Sound of Music moment and I have not forgotten it. This painting is my attempt to make it real. It is painted in thick textured paint and is multi layered. The purple and green dark colours of the canvas represents the view through dark pine trees that obscures most of the landscape but allows tantalizing glimpses of a lake, mountains, forests, a church and the wildflowers. There are several little cameos showing different aspects of the scene, each one of which goes from fairly realistic to just abstract spots and lines towards the edge of the canvas. The red lines are branches but also look like veins and the dark patches are acting as barriers to the perfect vista as they emotional as well as physical. In summary this is a painting about wanting something and trying to make it real through intention and by simply continuing to create it until it begins to happen. This is how anything is achieved isn't it?...

30 x 30 x 1.5 inches semi abstract landscape with a female deer in pale yellow, white, amethyst and peach. A beautiful deer stands pensively gazing off to the left of the painting in the middle of an abstract landscape. There is the hint of trees and a moon or sun behind her and even the suggestion of water and forests. I was trying for something that looked like a forest but deliberately did not paint trees as I usually do as I wanted to keep the painting all about the deer. It is totally beyond me how anyone can shoot one of these. I hope anyone seeing this may think again. The painting style is abstract, art nouveau and the paint is thick and blended giving it both a smooth and rough texture Painted on deep edge canvas - edges white, no frame needed.

40 x 40 x 1.5 large original painting on canvas of two white deer in an enchanted landscape. The white hart stands looking up at a white female deer who in turn stands staring at the viewer. We have interrupted their serenading and she is not happy. The style of the painting is art nouveau, semi abstract and hints at autumn trees, a lake or waterfall and is both delicate and bold in the brush strokes used. The albino stag can be found in the British wildlife centre in where I stalked him for a few hours to sketch and photograph him. Deer are quite ethereal and a white deer even more so. The inspiration for the painting was simply to paint some white deer and give them a place to play. Painted on deep edge canvas - edges white, no frame needed.

40 x 40 x 1.5 inches large original semi abstract oil painting of a Meadow in June in England. The painting gives a view across a hazy green field full of wildflowers. There are trees to the left through which you can see the hint of a lake and a suggestion of marsh flowers and a stream. Silver birch saplings can been seen further down the field. The flowers are pink and purple like foxgloves and there is a shimmering effect caused by thick vertical paint ridges. I have been walking around Mayfield and Wadhurst and this is my memory impression of the beautiful meadow's around those towns and the slightly dull but hot summer day's that we experience alot in England. Painted on deep edge canvas - edges white, no frame needed.