Winter Sea III by Joan Eardley (1921-1963) depicts a chaotic scene of waves crashing along a rocky coastline. Thick, sweeping strokes of oil paint across the canvas allows Eardley to capture the activity of the scene, with bright white and yellow layers of paint to convey a crackling energy. These layers contrast with the dark coastline, which is captured in two layers, one which is reddish brown which is then covered mostly in a layer of dark brown. There are possible influences of Abstract Expressionism in the way Eardley's strokes of white jut out over the coastline and the borders of objects converge over each other. The sky is dark with layering of muted blue and yellow over the reddish brown base of the whole painting, creating an intense mood present in much of Eardley's work. 

Later in Eardley's life, she spent much of her time in the fishing village of Catterline, splitting half the year between Glasgow and Catterline. Her earlier pieces during her time in Catterline were often depicting surrounding fields and cottages, with her later work like this one capturing the coastline. She often would go to Catterline to paint the storms that appeared off the coast, reflective in her work through the consistently grey skies and overall moody atmosphere. Her works of Catterline show Eardley's intimacy with the area as she captures the wildness of the surrounding nature, making Catterline an important place to her and where she would remain during her final months as she passed away from breast cancer. 

Joan Eardley RSA, 1921-1963

Born in Warnham, Sussex, to Anglo-Scottish parents, and brought up in Lincoln and in Blackheath, London, Eardley studied art briefly at Goldsmiths College before moving to Glasgow with her mother and grandmother at the beginning of the Second World War. She trained at Glasgow School of Art under Hugh Adam Crawford before taking a wartime job as a joiner's labourer. In 1943 she graduated with both the Diploma prize for drawing and painting and the prize for portraiture.

Van Gogh, Vuillard and Bonnard influenced Eardley's early draughtsmanship and choice of domestic interiors. Henry Moore and early Italian renaissance masters brought a sculptural weight and humanity to the figure compositions. In 1947 Eardley resumed her art studies at Hospitalfield in Arbroath, under James Cowie, and the following year returned to Glasgow School of Art to pursue the post-diploma course awarded to her four years earlier. She was given two travelling scholarships and spent eight months visiting Paris, Venice, Florence, Siena and Rome. The sketches and compositions executed in France and Italy were shown at her first solo exhibition at Glasgow School of Art on her return in 1949.

In 1950 Eardley discovered the small fishing village of Catterline, near Stonehaven, Kincardineshire. From then on she divided her time between her studios in Glasgow and Catterline. The later gestural weather studies in chalk had much of the force of the Abstract Expressionists but never became totally abstract. The oils included collages layers of earth and vegetation under thick sweeps of paint.

A quiet, retiring person, Eardley pursued her art with single-minded purpose. Her style is individual and conforms to no particular schools. She was elected ARSA in 1955 and RSA in the spring of 1963 but died a few months later.