Stillness & Storm: Beginnings
- Steve Roberts
- Jul 28
- 4 min read
There we were huddled by the fireplace with a pint in hand desperately trying to warm ourselves up. We had been caught in a downpour, our clothes soaked, our fingers frozen and our paintings ruined. The weather may have put a stop to our plein air painting session above the Severn estuary, but Colin and I were both smiling, invigorated by the experience of immersion within the landscape, both painting it and being a part of it.
The feeling from that day led us down an obsessive path over the next four years as we met up on a weekly basis to paint and draw in the Cotswold landscape and beyond. We packed up our easels and walking boots to hike up hills, drag ourselves up muddy tracks and trudge through dense woodland in pursuit of that feeling. We were looking to imbue our work with an essence of the ever-changing landscape that we found ourselves in.
Those trips out painting together weren’t always successful, in fact we probably had more challenging sessions than ones which ran smoothly but they were always memorable, invigorating and occasionally profoundly moving. Those experiences were a catalyst for forming an invaluable bond, a friendship and camaraderie between two artists that would eventually lead us to our first major two-man exhibition together ‘Stillness & Storm’ taking place at Spring Gallery in Cheltenham from 15th – 28th October, 2025. ‘Stillness & Storm’ is not an exhibition of plein air painting and drawing but its title does serve as a nod to the shared experience of those painting sessions and where they have led us. Though our practices have evolved in those four years, the influence and lessons of those days painting and drawing out in the open remain.
In those intensive years of plein air painting, we would meet on a regular basis at Colin’s studio in Cheltenham to critique each other’s work over a cup of tea. This weekly practice provided an opportunity for an open and honest discussion about what was and wasn’t working with our paintings. Here we created an environment where we could be completely honest and provide constructive criticism of each other’s work with the intention of helping each other find a way forward with our respective practices in a manner which was intentional and meaningful to best serve the experience of painting and the outcome.
This ethos of communication and providing feedback carries over into ‘Stillness & Storm’. We have continued this practice of meeting up to discuss our progress with work for the exhibition to keep each other on track.
Our intention for ‘Stillness & Storm’ is to each produce a new body of work for the exhibition taking place this autumn. This is an ambitious undertaking but we feel it is an important factor in developing our respective practices.
‘Stillness & Storm’ intends to provide a starting point from which our own independent research can be informed. We have both moved away from a literal interpretation of the title instead being drawn to metaphorical, allegorical and philosophical representations. We have conducted research into a wide range of topics including the unconscious mind, eastern philosophy, the hydrological cycle, ancient symbolism and folklore.
When discussing the premise of the exhibition, we agreed that we didn’t want to produce anything that felt safe, easy or that we had done before. This exhibition is designed to test us from an intellectual, technical and creative point of view and we will be producing a variety of two and three-dimensional forms to reflect this.
The exhibition will feature a combination of painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics and illustrated book forms that are intended to challenge us to find the most appropriate means of communicating ideas that relate to the exhibition title which resonate with us. The appearance of these two and three-dimensional forms will form a dialogue with the other works in the exhibition, enhancing and enriching the experience for visitors to the gallery.
The process of producing these works across multiple disciplines provides us with a way to interrogate our concepts in relation to the title ‘Stillness & Storm’. For example, developing ideas to fit a ceramic form and then carrying this idea over into printmaking challenges us to look at our practices from a new angle and find an appropriate solution and find the best physical form.
‘Stillness & Storm’ is not a definitive statement but about exploration and potential. In keeping with this dynamic, we believe that the exhibition benefits from the inclusion of preparatory work and experimentation appearing alongside final artwork. The inclusion of these sketches, notes and research materials provides a richer context and experience for visitors to the exhibition.
‘Stillness & Storm’ will be running as a physical exhibition for two weeks but we intend for the lessons learnt from the process of research, experimentation and production of the finished artworks to carry on long into the future. The process of pushing our work into new forms will reveal perspectives on our artistic practices that otherwise remain obscured. These new perspectives we hope will identify additional avenues for exploration and strengthen the existing threads running through our work.
Join us as we discover more about the topics which inspire us by reading more blog content like this, listening to our podcast and watching accompanying video content in the run-up to ‘Stillness & Storm’
Exhibition Dates
‘Stillness & Storm’ will be taking place at Spring Gallery in Cheltenham from 15th – 28th October, 2025.
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