Musical Creativities in Practice

I was very honoured recently to be asked to create an image for the cover of Pam Burnard's forthcoming book Musical Creativities in Practice. The task was to render the concept of multiple musical creativities in a single image. I related that idea to the vast array of possibilities and approaches to oil paint, and referenced (or should it be sampled?) a detail from Vermeer's painting, 'The Music Lesson'. The book is now available to pre-order on Amazon, prior to it's release in March/April. 

R34 at Mineola

R34 at Mineola, NY, 1919, 2010

Oil on canvas, 61x76cm

Self Portrait in Grey with Painting

In order to experiment I always find myself turning to self-portraits. They offer a freedom and a subject matter that can be subservient to the task of painting itself. The act of discovering ways of moving the greasy stuff about on the surface is the primary concern, but not the only result.

May 2010

Some bits I'm working on at the moment, preparatory studies and thinking allowed really, with the vague concept of developing drizzliness, blurriness, and the space between details and memories.

Themes and subject are taken from archive R101 images, the airship built in the sheds at Cardington, Bedfordshire, and a Maternity study by Eugène Carriere.

Watching the Tests

Nuclear Testing and the History of the Nevada Test Site.

This series of work is something I am coming back to [Feb 2012]

Stokes - Nevada - 19 Kilatons - 1957, 2007. Pen and ink on
paper.

Watching the tests i-ii-iii, 2007. Oil on panel.

 

Watching the tests iv, 2008. Oil on canvas.

 

Dog - 81 kilatons - Enewetak Atoll - 1951, 2007. Charcoal on
canvas.

Finistere after Keith Vaughan

My day job at the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery lets me have close up access to some fantastic art works. I have just been framing and hanging the pictures that accompany the Clocking On exhibiton of working lives in Bedfordshire and 'Finistere' particularly caught my attention for it's use of ink and gouache. The image above is my version, the real one is on display from 27th Feb at Bedford Gallery, Castle Lane Bedford.

Self Portrait after Gillies Lift

Self Portrait after Gillies Lift, 2010. Watercolour and bodycolour on paper 20x28cm

Piece by Piece, 2009

Piece by Piece, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 61.5x50.5

(Johnny Parry & Chamber Orchestra at the Union Chapel Islington)

The Blue Angel II, 2009.

The Blue Angel II, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 59x59cm

After the Death of Sardanapalus, 2009

Oil on canvas, 46x36cm

Based on a section of Eugène Delacroix's 'Death of Sardanapalus', this new picture is an exploration in surface and uses heavily thinned paint, Damar varnish, neat paint, and linseed oil in an attempt to put across a visceral and energetic interpretation of Delacroix's classic painting.

A Product of Manuscripts, 2009

Oil on canvas, 30.5 x 30.5 cm.

Part of my series of abstracts based on old master painterliness and as an exploration of techniques.