Kurt Jackson

Avon

When I was a kid I used to spend weekends with my grandparents on the Somerset/ Wiltshire border. One of the highlights of these trips was early on the Sunday morning before the rest of the family were awake, my father and I would creep out of the house to walk across the misty, dew covered fields towards Bradford-on- Avon. This is my first memory of this fine English river

Over the last few years I’ve completed several projects about rivers – in this country and on the continent . To follow a river from its source as it grows and changes, erodes and meanders, evolving itself and the land; this is not just a journey, getting to know the river itself, but is also about discovering and understanding the host country[side]- the history, people, culture, wildlife.The river becomes a metaphor for life itself.

The Avon – “the river” [ in Celtic] – very English – quite beautiful- some of it pristine- some of it abused- much of it used; industry, transport, fishing, agriculture.

: Winter morning, Avon in her valley, Malmesbury, big willow. 2006
oil on canvas
91.5cm x 91.5cm

: Joyce's pool - the source. 2006
oil on canvas
91.5cm x 91.5cm

: Batheaston bubbles from the weir. A kingfisher, three mallard, a ladybird. December 2006
mixed media
56cm x 60cm

: Moorhen screech, duck quack, near Bathford. December 2006
mixed media
57cm x 58.5cm

: Traffic noises, cold breeze, dusk approaching Bath December 2006
mixed media
56cm x 60cm

: Freshford Avon meander, raindrops and kingfishers. October 2006
mixed media
57cm x 48cm

: The Toll Bridge from room 115, Old Mill Hotel , Batheaston December 2006
acrylic
21.5cm x 24.5cm

: Sherston January 2006
acrylic
23cm x 22cm

: Freshford, the beginning of Autumn October 2006
mixed media
56cm x 59.5cm

: Evening Bath, Avon December 2006
acrylic
14.5cm x 13.5cm

: Fish, dusk, conker trees, edge of Bath December 2006
acrylic
13cm x 18cm

: The archetypal summers day. Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire June 2006 - DONATED TO WATERAID
mixed media
57cm x 61cm

: Warehouses on the Avon, Bath at night December 2006
acrylic
13cm x 17.5cm

: Blossom, Monkton, Whaddon April 2006
mixed media
57cm x 63cm

: Through the willows and across to the oaks, Avon eve Lacock March 2006
mixed media
57cm x 62cm

: Down from Lacock a swan, a moorhen, a snipe. March 2006

57cm x 61cm

: Caroline in Pinkney Wood, Sherston. Raindrops and fox smell. January 2006
mixed media
57cm x 62cm

: One big fish leaps with the cackle of fieldfares and the chuck of jackdaws. Dauntsey, Church Bridge January 2006
mixed media
57cm x 62cm

: Didmartin, sunny winter Avon source. October 2005
acrylic
16.5cm x19cm

: Batheaston toll bridge, midnight December 2006
acrylic
13cm x 18cm

: Avon pussy willow March 2006
mixed media
19cm x 14cm

: Joyce’s pool, the source. December 2005
ink
13cm x 14.5cm

: Blossom, Staverton April 2006
acrylic
17.5cm x 21cm

: 7pm and the smell of Chinese cooking, Pultney Bridge December 2006
acrylic
18.5cm x 19cm

: The bridge, Limpley Stoke October 2006
acrylic
18.5 x 20.5

: From the Swan midnight, several pints later, Bradford on Avon. June 2006
acrylic
18.5cm x 20cm

: Winter Avon. Lacock 2005/2006
mixed media on linen
196.9cm x 332.5cm

: Messages from up river 2006
mixed media on canvas
152.5cm x 152.5cm

: Sherston Avon. The sun breaks through and the birds start to sing 2006
oil on canvas
122cm x 122cm

: 7pm Cow Bridge, winter moon, the Avon 2006
oil on canvas
122cm x 122cm

: England. Scream of Jays from Dundas Aquaduct 2006
oil on canvas
122cm x 122cm

: From the Swan to the George across the Town Bridge, Bradford on Avon . Night . 2006
oil on canvas
91.5cm x 91.5cm

: Didmartin, October 2005
mixed media on canvas
61cm x 61cm

: Great Somerford, limestone and early Autumn leaves September 2005
acrylic
19.5cm x 20.5cm

: A breeze, a kingfisher, a wagtail. Great Somerford September 2005
acrylic
26cm x 20.5cm

: The little saxon church that Dad told me about, swifts screaming in the sun, Bradford on Avon June 2006
acrylic
20cm x 20.5cm

: Beanacre, early evening, very still, frog croak, moorhen squawk – paradise. April 2006
acrylic
28cm x 29cm

: Avon birdsong, March 2006
mixed media
28cm x 30cm

: The rain stops and the full moon rises above the Avon. Cow Bridge, Malmesbury January 2006
acrylic
22cmx 25cm

: The Aquaduct, Avoncliff , above and below the water. A kingfisher sits next to us October 2005
mixed media
29cm x 29cm

: Packhorse Bridge, Monkton April 2006
mixed media and collage
37.5cm x 30.5cm

: Malmesbury and the Abbey and the Avon November 2005
mixed media
28cm x 29cm

: Barton Farm Hill down to Avoncliff, hot sun, blackbirds singing. June 2006
mixed media
28.5cm x 31cm

: Grosvenor Bridge near Bath. Nettle, willow, trains, sirens, kids, robin, wind. December 2006
acrylic
24cm x 24.5cm

: Dusk, oak over the Avon. December 2005
mixed media
28cm x 25cm

: Reybridge, all very pretty but… March 2006
mixed media
28.5cm x 30cm

: Bathford Hill, magpie cackle. December 2006
mixed media
28cm x 30cm

: 6pm Dundas Aquaduct, midges biting, all is still October 2006
mixed media
57cm x 62cm

: Woodpeckers and ducks the Sherston branch of the Avon, Easton Grey December 2005

57cm x 61cm

: Big fish jump at dusk, downstream from Kellaways, Wiltshire December 2005
mixed media
56.5cm x 60cm

: Near Maud Heath’s monument. Pheasants call, one kingfisher and two mallard for company December 2005
mixed media
57cm x 61cm

: Cow paths, pheasant cough, dark oaks and winter sunshine. Avon meander December 2005
mixed media
57cm x 62cm