As a geographer, I have long been fascinated by maps - which led to the idea of Looking Down for painting.  As a result, I have used both as inspirations for different kinds of paintings. - and love painting them as it takes me back to places I know.  All my map paintings are based on areas I have lived in - and I have little interest in seeking out maps of places I cannot visualise!  They become like virtual tours of the scenes themselves!

It is interesting to see them all together like this, as I can see that the possibilities could be endless.  Faithfulness to the map itself,  then colour and line are what end up creating the shapes and the aesthetic interest.  I love doing them as I revisit places I know well on foot- I like walking down the steets again, or going over a bridge, or visiting a pub, a dress shop or an art gallery!

Looking Down offers other possibilities and a few are shown in the gallery below.  A single click on the image will bring them up individually.