Derek Roberts sees the world differently. The artist has forged an instantly recognisable and idiosyncratic style, in paintings, monoprints and drawings that explore the decorative aspects of landscape. The variety and perfectly judged use of colour temperature is evocative and moving. 

“I am fascinated by the abstract qualities of visual experience, and how these qualities speak directly to us, often invoking surprising associations and strong emotional responses. 

Each picture begins with a response to something seen or experienced without aiming for replication. I take the kernel of my initial interest and improvise with the materials to hand. As with all improvisations, chance plays an important part. The images are made spontaneously, usually in one session during which I am completely immersed in the process. Paintings are built up from a very loose initial structure with transparent layers as well as opaque flat areas. Each drawing is an adventure with the materials at hand. 

I am inspired  by gardens and the built landscape, particularly the interaction of complex natural patterns. Odd juxtapositions of colour, shape and pattern are not only observed in the environment, but can be discovered in the process of making pictures. In my notebooks I have begun exploring these elements in small abstract gouaches, the best of which will become large paintings in the spring. 

I am encouraged by painters who worked and are working in the modernist ‘tradition’: painters like Heron, Diebenkorn, Matisse, Bonnard, Milton Avery, Gillian Ayres, Ben Nicholson, Morandi, Thiebaud, Crozier and Rose Hilton.”