Cycladic fertility figures are fascinatingly androgynous compared with the Venus of Willendorf and more familiar depictions of fertility by early artists, but they are no less appealing in form and they catch the attention of museum goers.
After fuelling my own fascination with drawings and models, I now want to bring them alive in a 3D animation to explore how they would move, speak, and what personality characteristics would suit their intriguing body shapes.
Various cross section modular profiles for 3D modelling [Cat: 0000, Cycladic Women, Scalable / Digital vector, Illustrator, 2008]
To talk about man’s relationship with nature (the environment) is a good place to start understanding how we react with what surrounds us. We are as much a part of ‘nature’ as a bee gathering pollen or a frilled shark grazing on the ocean floor.
The four paintings in the East Dean Quartet explore themes of birth, discovery, power and fate.
Sheltered places, easily defended are the most desirable habitats [Cat: 0555, East Dean Quartet # 01, 30 x 40” / 76 x 101 cm, oil on canvas, 2015]As night draws in people return to the comfort and security of their homes to feel safe during the hours of darkness [Cat: 0554, East Dean Quartet # 01, 30 x 40” / 76 x 101 cm, oil on canvas, 2015]Beautiful places attract many visitors and leave their footprint however carefully they behave [Cat: 0553, East Dean Quartet # 01, 30 x 40” / 76 x 101 cm, oil on canvas, 2015]Landscape and environment shaped by man and home to all living things [Cat: 0552, East Dean Quartet # 01, 30 x 40” / 76 x 101 cm, oil on canvas, 2015]
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.
Self-portrait with Maggie Town [Cat: 0309, San Pedro, 5 x 7″ / 13 x 18 cm, Watercolour on board, 2003]
#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.
Exploratory drawing for style and technique [Cat: 04/0000, Symbol Collection, 10 x 8″ / 25 x 20 cm, Digital Drawing, 2018]
The mass of shells on this beach made its own composition [Cat: 9999, Sea Shells, Burnham Stave, 12 x 16” / 30 x 40 cm, Digital Watercolour, 2013]The North Norfolk coast is a special place, where flat landscapes melt into a vast grey-green sea beneath 180 degrees of sky. The defenceless nature of the landscape and the fertility of the land has invited invaders for millennia and probably will for millennia to come. The shifting coastline throws up new sandbars, land locking ports and drowning villages, all adding to its mystery.
There is so much to attract the artist. For me it is the shifting nature of the place; in the course of a day an ancient church can be bathed in sunlight or lost in a misty rain, an Iceni place of worship can become a thriving community church.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
