Today I worked out in detail a series of Minster landscapes using small wide canvases. My intention has been to open up a new set of possibilities in terms of composition and my ideas have crystalised following research over the winter and spring months just gone, when I repeatedly walked over the areas I was interested in making sketches and taking photographs. The greater width I am planning enables long runs of the Minster roofline, not possible with the square format, and a broader sense of the landscape in which it sits. The small size lends a certain freeness to my painting – as if I am working on quick preliminary works – I don’t feel so precious with the canvas.  It all feels more experimental than usual, and my hope is that the results will be a fresh and varied series of landscape views.