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What I paint about when I paint about love! is a series of works on paper influenced by Raymond Carver’s short love stories and a few of my own.

In the spring of 2015, I suffered a devastating and self-destructive breakup from a relationship, that in hindsight, I’d put way too much faith in. And so, in a moment of utter despair, I made a split-second decision that probably saved my sanity, packed up my camper van, and drove as far away from my problems as I possibly could. The following evening, I arrived in John O’Groats, the northern most point of the British Isles. A journey of 530 miles.

Over the following weeks, armed with my sketchbooks and a few watercolours, a copy of Raymond Carver’s What I write about when I write about love! and a soundtrack of angst fuelled teenage pop and punk love songs, I wandered the mountains and swam in the icy seas of northern Scotland, looking for my soul.

The resulting artworks are a series of joyful and self-critical reflections on the love stories of my life. A playful and tactile collection, each as individual as the moments they represent, What I paint about when I paint about love! is a frank expression of my anxiety in that moment, and the ridiculousness and selfishness of my despair.

© Richard Bartle, all rights reserved.