"These sea paintings come out of the memories I have from sailing on and off for thirty years. My wife Margy and I sailed a boat from the east coast of the UK to Kusadasi in Turkey, a discontinuous trip made over a period of several years, we also made numerous trips around the UK coast and across to France and the Netherlands. The many hours spent standing at the helm looking at calm waters and still skies as well as dramatically strong winds and menacing waves has been etched on my psyche.

A number of these paintings capture the last few hours of a sailing trip, when the navigation will take the vessel close to a headland, before turning towards a safe harbour. It is this situation of sailing round a headland, where the waves kick up, the wind changes direction, the current becomes confused, there maybe changes to the depth of the sea at these places, rocks to avoid that adds a feeling of danger. Other Painting are about the memories of being out of sight of land sailing overnight with gale force winds, leaving a harbour, or crossing the English Channel in dense fog with no radar.

This series of paintings has also been inspired by the works of great sea painters, J.M.W. Turner, Winslow Homer, Andreas Achenbach and Willem van de Velde the Younger. Each painting is about a particular place:- The Cliffs at Tropea - Calabria, The Raz de Sein - Brittany, San Vito Lo Capo - Sicily, they are places that remind me of a particular event, a thunderstorm, the boat engine not starting, close encounters with large ships at night, a fore sail getting tangled whilst arriving in harbour or a fast sail with a good wind."

Frank Creber (Studio TB-258), October 2024

About the artist:
Frank Creber was born in 1959 and trained at University of Newcastle upon Tyne (BA Painting, 1981) and Chelsea College of Art (MA Painting, 1987) and has collected a number of prestigious awards: the Herbert Read Fellowship at Chelsea, Barclays Bank Young Painters Award and the Pickering Fellowship at Kingston. His solo exhibition The Comedy Club and Other Places was at Thames-Side Studios Gallery in August 2020.

For more information on Frank Creber follow him on Instagram @frankcreber and visit www.frankcreber.space


Thames-Side Studios Viewing Room is located on the ground floor of Unit 8.

Entrance to Unit 8 is via The Atrium. Turn left upon entering the main site, walk through The Atrium turning to the left, to find the exhibition located between studios TB-10 and TB-09.