Town mouse visits Anglesey

Anglesey en plein air.

Hurry to Anglesey. If you’re quick, you’ll be able to catch Anthony Garratt, as he finishes the last of the four landscape paintings that he’s making. They’re each 8ft wide and, when finished, are erected onto hyper-strong steel frames, enabling them to be displayed on the spots where they were made, without being blown into Snowdonia by the wind.

The project has been funded by Judith Matthews, owner of the business Menai Holiday Cottages and a passionate advocate for the island, who saw similar outdoor paintings by Mr Garratt when she visited Tresco last year. She chose four of Anglesey’s loveliest locations and persuaded landowners to take part.

Seeing Mr Garratt at work is quite something. He covers the enormous boards laid flat on the grass or possibly the sands of a beach at speed. Paint is flung, flicked, dribbled and poured or, in the later stages, worked with a conventional brush (a large one). Mr Garratt doesn’t hesitate to walk over the surface of his artwork, leaving a footprint temporarily embedded in the paint.

The result embodies the energy of the process. Like other low-lying islands, Anglesey’s weather changes constantly, so it behoves the artist to paint fast. Only when you see the works in position can you truly appreciate them, as a contemplation on space, light and the moment. They remain in situ until October. Do go.