Ian H Watkins paints the Welsh landscape with the urgency of someone for whom it is not a subject but a necessity. Working primarily in acrylic with layers of pastel, charcoal, and gold leaf, he often works on location — gathering sand or soil from the landscape itself and grinding it into the surface of his canvases, making the paintings a literal extension of the land they depict. The result is raw and tactile: surfaces that carry the physical reality of cliffs, coastlines, and valleys as much as their visual appearance.
His practice places him within the rich tradition of Welsh landscape painting — a tradition shaped by Kyffin Williams and continued by contemporary figures including Elfyn Lewis — while remaining unmistakably his own. The instinct and speed with which he works give his surfaces an emotional directness that slower, more deliberate processes cannot produce. He paints what he feels about a landscape as much as what he sees — which is precisely what the Welsh word hiraeth demands: the longing for a place, a time, or a feeling that is part of the specific emotional inheritance of the Welsh language and landscape.
His musical background — as a founding member of Lostprophets — informs the rhythm and energy of his mark-making in ways that are difficult to articulate but immediately felt in front of the work.
Watkins has exhibited at solo shows across the UK, has been a selector for both the ING Discerning Eye and the Welsh Contemporary Art Exhibition, and is a regular contributor to BBC's The One Show. His collectors include numerous well-known public figures. Available through Creed Gallery, Ascot, for collectors across Berkshire, Surrey, and London.
