Crow House
The Crow is often called Messenger of the Gods and bringer of light, and there is a wonderful Inuit myth that tells of Crow bringing daylight to the dark lands of the midnight sun when the world was still new.
So much has been written about the Shaman-like qualities of Crow. In Jamie Sams’ Medicine Cards Crow knows the unknowable mysteries of creation and is the keeper of all sacred law and an omen of change. Look deep into Crow’s eye and you will find the gateway to the supernatural.
My original Crow House is framed in dark grey painted wood under glass, and the finished dimensions are 126 x 95 cms.
Available as Limited Edition Giclee Print and Poster Prints.
Eight Million Tons
The title refers to the amount of plastic dumped in the oceans every year, although I suspect after the huge amount of extra plastic dumped as a result of Covid-19, that enormous figure will get a lot higher! I found the Mickey Mouse globe on Sea Shepherd’s UK website and thought it went so well with the gull I have decided to donate 25% of the profit I make on each sale of the prints to their dedicated work.
The original work is on an A1 Canvas and is in water-based medium with gesso and pastels.
The original work is on an A1 Canvas and is in water-based medium with gesso and pastels.
Available as a Limited Edition Giclee Print and Poster.
Swansongs
“One regret, dear world,
That I am determined not to have when I am lying on my deathbed
Is that I did not kiss you enough”
Hafiz
(c. 1320-1389)
The Velvet Energy
Very recently Shell Oil commissioned seismic tests in the pristine waters off the coast of South Africa, which is home to whales, dolphins and seals, and is one of the important breeding grounds for whales. The tests involve blasting huge sound waves at very regular intervals through the marine environment for many months which would have been ecologically disastrous as well as affecting the local indigenous groups who undertake small-scale fishing in the area. Fortunately the permission, for the moment anyway, has been withdrawn.
Heathcote-Williams in his loving and poetic tribute to the Whale in his book Whale Nation called the Whale The Velvet Energy. I can’t think of a better name.
This Humpback Whale was painted on raw canvas and is 7 foot by 4 foot.
You should see the World inside my Head
I called these two oil paintings after the Song by the same name by Sister Hazel from their Album Lift, originally released in 2004. A great title and wonderful lyrics, I like the idea of being able to create our own reality, Apparently we use only 5% of our brain power and we are only just realising what our minds are actually capable of - and it’s so much more than we believed.
talos
“At some stage we have to expect the machines to take control”
Alan Turing, Manchester, 1951
We constantly hear these days of the extraordinary progress of integration of AI into our lives, whether in the form of physically taking over our rather mundane jobs or, which is less apparent, the extraordinary rise and application of algorithms in the operating systems that seem to run our lives to such a great extent. Now we hear that the billionaire entrepreneur and inventor Elon Musk is currently developing a way of inserting microchips directly into our brains so we will be able to communicate directly with computer systems instead of tapping a keyboard, and I am quite sure he cannot be the only one doing work of this kind. Musk says humans must merge with machines otherwise they will become an irrelevance in the age of AI.
In Greek Mythology Talos was a giant bronze automaton man created by the god Hephaestus to guard Crete from unwelcome visitors and although a far cry from the sophisticated inventions of today, it is not completely farfetched to suggest he could be called the first robot.
In these paintings I have used the metals silver, white gold and 23 ct gold leaf together with verdigris on copper that seem to be insinuating into the very flesh of our bodies, perhaps representing the creeping direction of technology into our very being.
It does strike me as odd that we are looking to computers as a way forward in human evolution when we are only just beginning to discover what our brains are truly capable of without technological interference. I am not against the progress of technology at all but am wary of this new development and wonder where this brave new world will take us with its physical merging of man and machine. Perhaps we should be questioning what it is to be human and perhaps like Talos, ever vigilant on the shores of Crete, we should be constantly on our guard for invaders.
Pieces from the Exhibition
You are here
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”
Vincent Van Gogh
“You are Here” is about our connection with nature, at a time when that has never been more important, and follows a long legacy in art of the human form as part of the landscape. Mythology in cultures the world over give examples ancestors, giants and mythical animals who have been turned to mountains, stones, rivers and other natural forms. Back in the landscape we seek solace and peace and wonder at the beauty of it.
When I was a child all I wanted to do was to spend time in nature. I grew up in fields full of wild flowers, knew the name of every flower and bird and spent hours in discovery and delight. It was a place where hedgehog families were plentiful and the air in Summer was busy with insects and butterflies. Snakes were a common sight in the long grass as were hares. I have watched species of all kinds decline down the decades as modern farming practices, pollution and the destruction of habitats has changed the land and my experience of abundance then is not the same for my grandchildren now.
In these paintings I want to convey that feeling of connection, a sense of space and timelessness that being in nature gives us, and which we are in danger of losing. To quote Paul de Zylva of Friends of the Earth: “As we lose Nature, we lose a huge part of what makes us happy and healthy”.
Pieces from the Exhibition
The paintings are graphite, charcoal, pigment and ink with gesso on an acrylic ground on canvas. Some have oil glazes. All are 36” x 36”
Holy Ice
Myths which are believed in tend to become true
George Orwell
Holy Ice
I first heard about the legend of the crystal skulls many years ago. I can’t remember now why I became so curious to know more about them, but previously I had painted a series of paintings of the human skull so perhaps it was the combination of those together with a long held love of mineral stones, and a more than passing interest in quantum physics (finding it both utterly fascinating and completely incomprehensible in equal parts) that drew me to start researching their story. A friend told me about the legend of the skulls from the Native American Indian perspective and he suggested I read “Legend of the Crystal Skulls” by Chris Morton and Ceri Louis Thomas which is a compelling account of their journey and extensive research into the story.
Over the past two years I have been working on the twelve paintings that form my tribute to the myth of the crystal skulls which I have called “Holy Ice”. Deliberately not doing the 13th as that seemed to dishonour the legend, each painting seemed to be a different experience. I started very cautiously with the first few, often scraping the painting back completely and starting again, and again…..and again, some taking months to resolve.
Often I would sit in front of a painting for what seemed like hours, almost waiting for it to reveal its individual character, and perhaps it’s whimsical to say that each one seemed to take on their own character as I worked on them, but characters they have certainly become.
Pieces from the Exhibition
* The paintings are on linen canvas on robust stretchers and measure 90cm square. Most are gesso and oil, one is acrylic and pastel.
N.B. Many thanks to Michael Kilcooley of Meantime Media for the video, and to Stefan Cartwright for the soundtrack on the video which comes from his Quiet Illumination CD.
The Black Paintings
These drawings are a continuation of my work from the Extreme Poses Life Class with Paul Fowler at Pegasus Arts. They are my immediate response to the extraordinary poses the models can achieve. They seem to have a sense of power and freedom with no boundaries, to be part of space itself.
They are on 90cm square canvas and are mostly charcoal and pastel on an acrylic ground. They are set in ash frames which have been hand painted and placed under museum quality UV resistant glass to avoid fading and reflection. The overall measurement is finally 96 cm square.
Drawings
Life Drawings
Paintings
THE IMAGINARY BODY
This exhibition was held at The Printmakers’ Gallery next door to my studio in Griffin Mill, and the paintings were based on the Extreme Poses Life Class held by Paul Fowler at Pegasus Arts.
I was absolutely delighted with everyone’s response to the work, and as a result I sold nearly every one.
Griffin Mill, Stroud, GL5 2AZ
The Imaginary Body
Author: Susan Stewart
"The body presents the paradox of contained and container at once. Thus our attention continually focused upon the boundaries or limits of the body; known from an exterior, the limits of the body as object, known from an interior, the limits of its physical extension into space."
Pieces from the Exhibition
* These works are charcoal, graphite, pastel, ink and acrylic on 90cm square canvases.
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