Escape

It was refreshing to paint onto canvas again after a good few months absence.
It was also great to loosen up a bit in terms of the application of paint, especially after a series of fairly tight illustrations.
This is an avenue I want to explore in more detail in later work, as I feel I can take this much further, stylistically as well as in terms of concept...

Anyway, this painting will be part of the Arts After Dark Exhibition, a week long exhibition starting on the 23rd. of October in New Orleans. The exhibition includes photography, sculpture, multimedia, as well as illustration; showcasing work from the UK and New Orleans.
It will then be returning for a homecoming Launch Party at the end of November @ the Chomley Boys Club, 68 Boleyn Road, London N16 8JG.

To check it out in more detail go to:
www.100sqft.co.uk/faq

Dido

This painting was created for two main reasons: 1.) As part of an upcoming, collaborative exhibition in Stoke-Newington, London (details of which I will post on my next blog), 2.) A portfolio/promotional piece.

It's a direct contrast to my John Lee Hooker piece in many ways, which was a nice switch, and a good challenge.
Dido is one of many characters from Virgil's "Aeneid", and from the pantheon of Roman mythology. She is the Queen of Carthage when Aeneas, the famous Trojan-Roman hero, is fated to meet her. They fall deeply in love. When, in obedience to the commands of the gods, he leaves her to continue his journey, she burns herself to death on a funeral pyre in despair. The ships sailing away were a late edition to the composition, but I think an important one in terms of its added narrative quality. Its a bit of a shame I didn't get the sea as I wanted, as I had imagined it being much more luminously blue-green, with a real sense of depth to it...

A sneak look at latest painting, "Persephone"

I finished this little fella yesterday. The specifications for this painting were strict, it had to be 30cm x 30cm. I found it restrictive at times, particularly the painting of the skin tone, but I think its turned out pretty decent. Its going to be part of an exhibition based on myth and the folktale, in which each of the images is slightly subverted in some way. Thats why I have only posted a small segment, as the exhibition is in early May. But that one aside, I'm hoping it will be part of a broader, more ambitious exhibition early next year. We shall see...