Ian established a reputation for producing sensitive, atmospheric works in mixed media and oils. His main subject matter was the urban landscape, particularly Manchester, but he was also inspired by the flat landscapes of Suffolk and the extraordinary light on the West Coast of Scotland. Ian said of his work: “I always strive to create or recreate an atmosphere in my work. Sometimes the inspiration comes from memory, or I use my own photographic reference combined with memory. I try to stop working on a picture as soon as it triggers a feeling reminding me of how I felt at the scene. I am not concerned with photographic accuracy so much as light, atmosphere, texture and line. The most mundane of subjects can look wonderful in the right light.”

Here was an artist who saw the ‘ordinary’ as extraordinary and was successful in creating images that allowed us to enjoy the extraordinary too, and that is something that will outlive us all. Ian Jarman died suddenly and peacefully in his sleep in 2018 at the age of 63, his memory lives on in his paintings.