Riverbed 2017

Joshua Flint made Riverbed, and straightaway I'm drawn into how the painting's built, layer by layer, where the colours aren't just sitting pretty but doing work. Check out that water. Those strokes of turquoise and pink, they don’t just sit on the surface, they dive right in, giving the river depth, making it move. And the rocks! Each one is like a little world, shaped with a few quick strokes, but telling a whole story of weight and texture. The paint isn’t trying to hide its hand; you can almost feel the brush dancing across the canvas. It reminds me a bit of Fairfield Porter, that same love for the everyday, for finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. But where Porter was all about capturing a moment, Flint seems to be after something more, maybe a feeling, a memory, or just the sheer joy of painting itself. Like all great art, it’s not about having all the answers, but about asking the right questions, and trusting that the beauty is in the search.