{"product_id":"untamed-and-restless-original-painting","title":"Untamed and Restless Original Painting","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUntamed and Restless\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOil on paper, 2025\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e210 x 297 mm\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe red sky at night has always held a particular feeling for me. It captures something of the atmosphere of the Isle of Man. Changeable, dramatic and difficult to hold still. I think about the wind in a similar way: unseen, but deeply felt.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis painting was exhibited at Ortus as part of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Journey to This Wild Achingly Beautiful Place\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Broad gestures, wistful landscapes and pensive figures reveal a return to a creative process that is hands-on, tactile, individual and exploratory.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe painting is part of a series I made on the Isle of Man, returning to drawing and painting after a long period of illness. The landscapes are the ones I grew up in: wild, wind-shaped trees, open highlands, Celtic stones and the colours of the island that stay with me no matter where I go.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI drew the painting outdoors at the Plains of Heaven at the Braaid, overlooking Greeba Mountain, before returning indoors to paint. I am drawn to the bleak, open space of this landscape and to the sense of movement within it. The red sky captures something of the changing skies of the island, while the broad marks and movement within the painting reflect the wind moving through the landscape.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA curator at Bethlem Gallery asked me why there was so much movement in the works. At the time, I didn’t fully understand it. Looking back, I think I was drawn to spaces that were exposed, windblown and open because I was trying to capture the wind itself. Something unseen, but deeply felt.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eI now recognise that this movement was also connected to my experience of invisible disability. During the most severe period of my illness, I was unable to leave my bed and certainly unable to make work. Returning to painting became a way of reconnecting with the landscape and with myself. The work became a kind of ghostly reflection of that experience: a memory of something I had lived through, expressed indirectly through movement, atmosphere and landscape.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn that sense, the wind in these paintings is both physical and metaphorical. It is something I cannot see, but whose presence I can feel. The work is an attempt to give form to that feeling. To something invisible, restless and untamed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e20% of the proceeds will be donated to Bethlem Gallery. These artworks were developed in collaboration with the gallery for the Exhibition, This Wild Achingly Beautiful Place. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bethany Williams","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49710155202715,"sku":null,"price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0488\/4686\/4539\/files\/IMG_5612_ab23be8f-bacf-4b0a-823f-7a0920753665.jpg?v=1786633924","url":"https:\/\/bethany-williams.com\/products\/untamed-and-restless-original-painting","provider":"Bethany Williams","version":"1.0","type":"link"}