My first introduction to the history of art was through reproductions in a series of books on famous artists in the art room at Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy in Llanrwst. The works of the Impressionists and Post Impressionists stood out to me for their freshness and vivid colours. As I later delved into their work I found that Monet in his later work had pushed beyond the immediate impression into new areas of painterly expression, pointing the way towards Modern Art. I first saw the actual painting in Cardiff in 1989. I was amazed at how different the painting was in real life in comparison to the reproduction. Close up the surface is made up of thickly painted globules, applied possibly with a pallet knife but probably with a wide, flat brush, wet in wet. Muted complementary colours are used to define forms and surface details, shapes melt into each other and the paint forms into craters and crevasses. Viewed from further back these seemingly abstract areas recompose themselves into Monet's impression of the surface of the cathedral and the atmosphere between the artist and the building at that precise time of day. So when the project was mentioned I knew I wanted to work from this powerful artwork. I thought I could explore Monet's painting process, juxtaposing complementary colours to convey form and building up layers of paint. Also the idea of a series of paintings has always interested me, it gives an opportunity to experiment and play with paint, letting images emerge from various starting points and to emphasising various pictorial elements. Another factor in my choice was that I had a copy of Joachim Pissarro's 'Monet's Cathedral, Rouen 1892 - 1894' with some fantastic reproductions and two pages showing the whole series together. I gleaned some useful information on Monet's intentions and techniques. Also useful were 'The Colours of Time' Virginia Spate and 'Monet by himself' Richard Kendall with letters from the artist to his dealer Paul Durand-Ruel amongst others. His correspondence to his wife Alice from Rouen show how much effort and emotional ups and downs he went through

'This morning I felt quite out of sorts, my things were all over the place in utter disorder and my paintings looked atrocious in the altered light. In short, I won't be able to do anything worthwhile, it's a stubborn encrustation of colours, that's all, but it's not painting. I'll carry on for one more week so I have no regrets, but I'm very much afraid to no purpose. What is it that's taken hold of me, for me to carry on like this in relentless pursuit of something beyond my powers?..if I do any good work now it will be only by chance.'

It's known that he worked and re-worked his canvases back in his studio in pursuit of his artistic vision.

The project took on several phases - I started with two visits to the Museum. I did some loose sketches in coloured pencils on black paper then an exploration of the textures in acrylics and a heavy texture medium. I also took some close up photos of the paint encrustations. The Museum staff were very helpful. I thought it was appropriate to make an immediate impression of the painting. Back in the studio I had the idea of making several small versions of the Cathedral, which when put together would be the same size as the actual painting. I was able to play with these, building up textures and trying various colour combinations, I also used monoprinting and a roller to blend the paints together. I then did a similar series with local Welsh Chapels, just seeing what turned out from different starting points. I then did a series of larger paintings of Y Tabernacl in Caergybi ( Holyhead).Although not comparable to the Gothic Cathedral there are similar elements- three arched doors, some surface decoration, a half circular window half way up the facade, twin towers and pointed features reaching up to heaven. I made a drawing and started some paintings in situ but most of the work was done in the studio. Looking back I realise that I was less interested in showing particular times of day. I delved into Monet's techniques but inevitably fell back to my own ways of working. In particular, I feel the paint is not as thick and encrusted, but there is a lot of spontaneous application and emotional response. The project has had a positive effect on my own work, giving me more confidence to work en plein air and to appreciate experimental techniques.