#naturalforms – fluid sculpture 02
Mixing the basic colours in various combinations to give me an idea of what combinations are available, here I am adding black in various degrees to the base colour.
The mixing starts
00 – 10 PROJECT GROUP
Hand crafted
#allthatglitters – dreams of fortunes 01
This is Little Hugh’s grave in Lincoln Cathedral, which relates to a very unsavoury tale of anti-Semitism. The stone has been smoothed by the thousands of hands that have caressed it over the past 600 years, and discoloured by the grease of those hands, lending it its unusual colour and texture.
Paint trials
#naturalforms – fluid sculpture 01
It has taken a few weeks of experimentation to find a paint type that meets my requirements for these new abstracts. In the end I have chosen a water-based emulsion paint form Little Green.
A votive offering?
#relicsandreliquaries – certainty of power 01
What a fascinating find made while walking along Grand Union Canal towpath, I have no idea what this votive is used for, but it is regularly tended and maintained. There is a clear intention and order to the display that extends in all directions from what can be seen in the photograph.
Rocks
#allthatglitters – dreams of fortunes
With dreams of fortunes and fool’s gold, dynamic crystalline geometries both reflective and translucent, rocks provide a fascinating subject to study. Holding a piece of rock is akin to holding the earth’s history in your hands, and it can be imagined as a whole mountain range in miniature. I find it very difficult to describe rocks visually. They hold a fascination for me, and I regularly seek out examples of other artists’ work for inspiration.
Reliquaries, container of divine power
#relicsandreliquaries -certainty of power
Otherwise unremarkable objects, a nail, a splinter of wood or a square of linen are imbued with the power to heal and mend broken lives by faith and their sumptuous presentation. There is an irony between the mundanity of the object, a nail, and the gold, emeralds, pearls and rubies that surround it, suggesting the uncertainty of power.
I think I can use this ‘objective irony’ to good effect in an artwork.
Stairs – suspense and surprise
#betweenworlds – ascending and descending
The geometry of stairs in all their fascinating varieties – sharp and steep leading down to a cellar or sweeping upwards to a grand hall – always provides a tantalising prelude to what is hidden from view. They are still, silent, inanimate, yet hold the possibility of suspense and surprise.
In my latest works I have added people to the scenes to see how they react to this intriguing environment.
Seasons
#everchangingseasons – the continual cycle
Seasons is part of a series of works inspired by nature. While they provide life-long sources of interest, these subjects ultimately form the basis of my abstract paintings which are both hard-edged and yet fluid in appearance. Seasons looks closely at the continual cycle of birth, growth, maturity and death.
Portraits
#capturingalikeness – observation and perception
The portrait is the real test of an artist’s skills, and even if an artist never tackles the subject it will always be there before them as a challenge, so why not tackle it head on?
Portraits by artists from Rembrandt to Saville are among our greatest works of art; the observation and perception of character goes beyond mere paint on canvas. The ultimate test – the self-portrait.
Mythology
#adifferenttruth – the unintelligible understandable
As there is no culture without mythology, then it is easy to think of cultures as myths re-enacted in the present day. What is often so surprising about myths is that they have little or no basis in fact, they are there simply to make the unintelligible understandable, adding to an individual’s sense of identity.
With this in mind, I reinterpret myths for my own ends in drawings and paintings to serve the same purpose – to make life intelligible.
