Kristian Purcell: Paintings

New Work from Shop Studio Project

2012-02-28T21:28:00.001Z

Self Portrait in a Hospital Bed, 2012

Painted as part of the first Bedford Creative Arts mini-commission, the painting depicts me after waking up from facial surgery that followed an unprovoked attack in the street by two youths with a knuckleduster in 2009

Shop Studio

2012-02-13T12:48:00.003Z

My Bedford Creative Arts mini-commission, Shop Studio, happens this weekend, 18-19th February.

I'll be in the former Millets unit in Church Arcade, Bedford town centre working on a series of pictures including a self portrait based on photographic sources. Come down, ask me questions, and see how I build up my work.

The picture above is a painting based on a photo taken from a poetry blog that had a specific meaning at that time. It's an example of the kind of personal/historical images that fascinate me, and will be working with over the weekend.

Darren Marsh - Scarecrows

2012-02-06T08:26:00.004Z

I've put on another fantastic artist in the café Pensieri on Castle Lane, Bedford. Darren Marsh is best known for his A Portrait of Bedford exhibition at BCA Gallery a few years ago.

Check out www.darrenleemarsh.com to see more of his work. I particularly like the Santander: Summer in the Rain series a pictured below.

Skeleton Rivalry - Christian Webb

2012-01-25T14:45:00.002Z

I seem to have been doing more writing than painting recently, with latest example being the foreword for Christian Webb's latest book of photography, purchasable and browsable on Blurb.com. Look out for another couple of articles in the February edition of the Bedford Clanger too.

Skeleton Rivalry by Christian Webb | Make Your Own Book

Paintings by Chris Lock - an exhibition I'm organising

2011-11-14T21:16:00.001Z

A new exhibition at Pensieri, Castle Lane Bedford

Paintings by Chris Lock

The paintings were inspired by a short stretch of coastline in South Devon; between Blackpool Sands and Torcross. Chris usually works on a larger scale but has produced these smaller more intimate pieces specifically for Pensieri.

Chris has had numerous solo shows and has been exhibiting and producing work for private commissions for a number of years. She was head of art at Sharnbrook Upper School from 1992 – 2010

For further information visit:

http://web.mac.com/chrislock1/Site/Home.html

The exhibition runs from 17th November 2011 to 18th January 2012

Object of the Week: 'Mary Boteler of Eastry, Kent', 1786, by John Hoppner

2011-11-03T20:17:00.000Z

I write regular blog posts for the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum. Here's a link to my latest post.

Object of the Week: 'Mary Boteler of Eastry, Kent', 1786, by John Hoppner

Leah Kardos: Feather Hammer

2011-09-17T16:52:00.001+01:00

Feather Hammer comes out on Friday 25th November on Bigo and Twigetti

One of my paintings is appearing on the cover of a new album on Monday 19th September. Leah Kardos is a very good friend and very, very talented composer and musician. Originally from Brisbane, Australia, she now resides and works from her home studio in Bedford. Feather Hammer is an excellent and atmospheric record that brings together beautiful piano melodies, samples, and beats constructed from the body of the piano itself. I highly recommend a listen.

The album will be performed at the Wilmington Arms, London, on November 25th, promoted by Chaos Theory, in an ecxciting evening of new contemporary music and art. Tickerts are £5 advance from www.wegottickets.com

The painting, Unelma I, 2009, is named after the Finnish word for 'dream'.

http://music.leahkardos.com/

The Wilmington Arms

69 Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 4RL

London, United Kingdom

Christian Webb Photography Exhibition - Pensieri, Bedford

2011-09-07T18:38:00.002+01:00

Opening View: 7pm, 22nd September, 2011 at Pensieri, Castle Lane, Bedford.
The exhibition runs until 17th November.

Cloud Variations, 2011

Always prolific in both his music and his art, Christian Webb has been produced a fantastic body of work over the past 5 years or so which culminated in his book Swing on Machinery last year (available on Blurb.com)

This, his first exhibition, will display his unique compositional sense alongside his highly original photomontage work that ranges the creative use of street markings to the obsessional documentation of every book in a library.

One not to miss.

Opening View 7pm, 22nd September, 2011 at Pensieri, Castle Lane, Bedford. The exhibition runs until 17th November.

Blog Articles

2011-08-30T17:21:00.001+01:00

I often blog on fine & decorative arts objects, as well as other things for the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum blogs. Here are a selection of my recent posts:

What I found out this week: If you ask a certain kind of question when you work in a museum you can find yourself on an interesting journey.
From the ice age to the dawn age there is just one concern...

News from the stores: Object of week - Lars Kinsarvik chair
Norwegian Romantic Nationalism in chair form.

News from the stores: Object of the Week - Ceramic tiles by William de Morgan
Art tiles out of the top drawer.

News from the stores: Object of the Week - Domestic lighting by WAS Benson
Are Friends Electric? Ahead-of-his time younger mate of William Morris and pioneer of electric lighting.

News from the stores: Object of the Week - David Bomberg, 'Across the Valley, Ronda'

The search for the "spirit in the mass" by probably the most able British painter of the 20th century

News from the stores: Object of the Week - Gainsborough Revealed
Ovid's Metamorphoses channeled in the Suffolk countryside.

Exhibition Taster... opens Thursday 7pm 14th July at Pensieri, Castle Lane, Bedford

2011-07-09T15:06:00.000+01:00

Exhibition of Drawings

2011-06-27T08:24:00.003+01:00

I'm in the middle of putting together a series of exhibitons for the cafe Pensieri in Castle Lane, Bedford. Situated right by the museum and art gallery its a nice spot to show art, particularly while they're closed. I've had a number of oil paintings in there for a while but the display has needed refreshing and I've also wanted to book in some other talented people I know. A new two month show of new drawings will open on July 14th and by then I'll have confirmed the running order for the next few months.

A detail from work on based on Fantin-Latour's Mr and Mrs Edwin Edwards, National Gallery

The show of drawings will consist of 'cover versions' - favourite paintings rendered in pencil on paper highlighting the artists I look to and my own obsessions and interests, as well as putting my own handling of materials in the spotlight.

R34 at Mineola

2010-08-31T22:18:00.001+01:00

R34 at Mineola, NY, 1919, 2010

Oil on canvas, 61x76cm

Self Portrait in Grey with Painting

2010-06-01T22:36:00.003+01:00

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

2010-05-18T21:38:00.005+01:00

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

2010-02-26T15:27:00.005Z

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

2010-02-20T15:40:00.005Z

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.

The Portugal Man linocut

2010-02-19T12:46:00.005Z

The Portugal Man paintings (see here) were completed in 2005 and 2008, and take their title from prolific Bedford songwriter and photographer Christian Webb's 8th album. This is my first completed linocut and will be published shortly in a small edition. More details to follow, in the meantime check out his music at www.reverbnation.com/christianwebb

Helzuki - Little Bits of Nothing EP

2010-01-23T18:29:00.004Z

At last it's finished! We took so long I can't even remember how long ago we started this 6 track EP, but we're very proud of it. Helzuki is a musical project I work on with Leah Kardos and Matt Roles. Matt and Leah started the band as a piano-rock trio but these days we are far more into studio based experimentation. Have a listen, and I hope you enjoy.

Tracklisting:

1. Your Dress is a Curse

2. Found

3. Seen Through Glass

4. Stay in Bridgend

5. Ghosts on the River

6. Little Bits of Nothing

1 & 6 by Kristian Purcell, 2 & 5 by Leah Kardos, 3 & 4 by Leah Kardos & Kristian Purcell.

Recorded and mixed by Helzuki at Glory Box Studios.

Leah Kardos: vocals, piano, autoharp, string arrangements, drums, percussion

Matt Roles: bass, drums, percussion

Kristian Purcell: vocals, guitars

and

Katie Chipperfield on cello

"Seen Through Glass" features The Ariella String Quartet

Cover painting by Kristian Purcell

Helzuki - The Little Bits Of Nothing EP download free at www.helzuki.co.uk

Stream the tracks and listen to my solo recordings at reverb nation

Self Portrait after Gillies Lift

2010-01-06T23:04:00.004Z

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

Roisin sous la lampe

2010-01-06T20:59:00.002Z

Roisin sous la lampe, 2010. Oil on canvas 70x50cm.

Piece by Piece, 2009

2009-12-10T18:43:00.002Z

Piece by Piece, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 61.5x50.5

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

The Blue Angel II, 2009.

2009-11-30T22:51:00.003Z

The Blue Angel II, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 59x59cm

Lost Drawing, 2005

2009-10-20T22:29:00.004+01:00

Still trying to track down the source image for this, but it just fell out of a book on Goya and thought I'd post it as I haven't seen it in 4 years and my recent work has picked up on an earlier art historical theme.

2004 Sketchbook work: El Greco, Michelangelo and Rubens

2009-10-20T15:24:00.003+01:00

After the Death of Sardanapalus, 2009

2009-10-19T23:03:00.004+01:00

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 New Blog for Art And Exhibitions in Bedford

2009-10-01T12:36:00.003+01:00

Ther is now a new blog for Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum and the new exhibiton space, Bedford Gallery on http://chagbm.blogspot.com

The purpose is to offer a more up-to-date information serviceon exhibitons and events at the gallery and museum, as well as comment and articles, than we are currently able to offer with the main websites for Cecil Higgins and Bedford Museum.

Please have a look, become a Follower, or join up to the RSS feed, as we aim too put up lots of interesting information on what's going on, especially at a time with so many fantastic events planned.

And see you at the new Edward Bawden Exhibiton whi opens on Staurday 3rd OCtober and runs until 31st January, Free entry, open Tues-Sat 11-s, Sun 2-5.

A Product of Manuscripts, 2009

2009-09-19T14:45:00.005+01:00

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.

A drawing develops part 2

2009-08-25T14:11:00.001+01:00

Stolen Paintings

2009-08-22T12:09:00.006+01:00

The following paintings have been stolen between 14th and 20th of August 2009 while on exhibition in Bedford. Any information about there whereabouts would be gratefully received.

Self Portrait in Black, 2008.

Strangers series 1-4, 1999

Kneeling Female Figure, 2002

The Blue Angel, 2005

Clara, 2009

Eeva Under the Water, 2009

A drawing develops

2009-08-16T01:17:00.006+01:00

I thought it might be interesting to show the development of a drawing and the phases it goes through. As I continue working on this I will past more images and am thinking of doing a more complete phased documentation of a drawing process.

Unfinished Study

2009-08-12T23:49:00.005+01:00

(unfinished), 2009. [detail]
Pencil on paper, 50x65cm.

Johnny Parry

2009-08-08T11:06:00.005+01:00

Amongst those I call my friends are some seriously talented people. One of them is Johnny Parry, whose recent album 'More Love & Death' is an incredibly good record that gets better with every listen. He played a show at the awesome Union Chapel back in May and there is very good footage on youtube. 'Men Will Hang' appears below, but there are many more videos to look out for, and many feature the excellent artwork of Andy Holden.

Art Workshops and Tuition updated 15-11-11

2009-07-09T12:14:00.009+01:00

My classes with Spark Adult Learning are back on, now that I've finished the packing up of the collections of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum, which is closed for a major refurbishment until 2012/13.

Current classes:

Life Drawing, Wednesday 7-9pm, Raliegh House, Ampthill Road, Bedford. These are booked in ten week slots, with the next 10 starting on January 11th, 2012.

Enrolment (Freephone: 0808 100 3140) Please also see courses for adults section or view the SPARK online course search and browse facility for more information. Alternatively, call 0808 100 3140 or email sparkacl.response@centralbedfordshire.go.uk.

I am also available for private classes, from one-off workshops to ongoing development of skills. Feel free to call on 07977915349 or email me kristianjohnpurcell@gmail.com about any specific information about classes.

Bookmark this page and in future information will appear here about my workshops, 10 week classes and private tuition.

Regular classes have included life drawing, portraiture,watercolour and oil painting.

UPDATE: 15-11-11

New Paintings 5: Abstract compositions II

2009-07-06T21:55:00.005+01:00

Atmosphere in Pink, Blue and Yellow, 2009.

Gouache on panel, 46.5x34cm.

Composition in Grey and Purple, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 30.5x30.5cm

New Paintings 4: Performance and memory

2009-07-06T19:09:00.004+01:00

The Poetry Reading, 2009
Oil on canvas, 41x50cm.

New Works 3: People and Interiors

2009-07-06T16:34:00.010+01:00

She stands by the Window, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 76x51cm.

Sarah Dunn, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 51x40 cm

Four Abstract Paintings

2009-07-06T16:02:00.008+01:00

A Lover Loves, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 30.5x30.5cm.

Clara, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 30.5x30.5cm.

'A moving Aria for a Vanishing Style of Mind', 2009.

Oil on canvas, 30.5x30.5cm.

This Night You Are Mistaken, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 30.5x30.5cm.

New Pictures 1: Art historical themes.

2009-07-06T15:49:00.006+01:00

A Drunken Silenus, after Rubens, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 127x102cm.

A Madonna in Orange and Blue, after Munch, 2009.

Oil on canvas, 71x61cm

Darren Lee Marsh Photography

2009-06-25T21:55:00.007+01:00

A good friend and an even better photographer. Go have a look, now. Click on a picture for the link or stick http://www.darrenleemarsh.com into the browser of your choice.

Exhibition

2009-06-15T14:26:00.004+01:00

The image says it all, really. I'm holding my second annual summer open house exhibiton at my Castle Road flat in order to show and sell my latest work. The emphasis is onwork since last summer but there will aso be a few of my older works. All welcome.

Pip Sadler, 2009

2009-06-03T19:00:00.003+01:00

Oil on canvas, 30.5 x 30.5cm

Eeva Under the Water, 2009

2009-06-03T18:53:00.004+01:00

Oil on canvas, 30.5 x 30.5cm.

Abram Games: Maximum Meaning, Minimum Means

2009-05-28T11:40:00.007+01:00

At Bedford Gallery, Castle Lane, Bedford from 6th June-6th September 2009.

Abram Games (1914-1996) created many of the most iconic images of mid-20th century Britain, from Official War Posters to the logo for the 1951 Fesival of Britain and advertising designs for clients such as London Transport.

The exhibition brings together his poster work, designs, inventions, documentary footage, and work of artists such as Henry Moore and Jacob Epstein that also contributed to the Festival of Britain.

A series of Lectures will accompany the exhibition in the Lower Gallery, all on Wednesday lunchtimes from 1-1.30:

17th June: Abram Games - Graphic Designer, speaker Tom Perret, Head of Collections & Exhibitions.

1st July: The 1951 Festival of Britain, speaker Lydia Saul, Keeper of Social History.

15th July: The Festival of Britain in Bedfordshire, speaker Stephen Coleman, Historic Environment Information Manager, Central Bedfordshire.

29th July: World War Two Poster Design, speaker Kristian Purcell, Curatorial Assistant.

12 August: London Transport Posters, speaker Victoria Partridge, Keeper of Fine & Decorative Arts.

26th August:The BBC and Glenn Miller in Wartime Bedford, speaker Davis Fowler, Town Centre Guide.

Bedford Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 11-5, Sunday, 2-5.
bedford.museum@bedford.gov.uk
01234 353323

Life Drawing in Bedford

2009-05-18T18:36:00.008+01:00

Life Drawing classes/workshops in Bedford. Tutor: Kristian Purcell.

I've realised that a lot of people are finding this blog while looking for information on life drawing classes in the Bedford area, so here is a bit more information about the classes I run.

Updated: 13-12-10My classes with Spark Adult Learning are temporarily on hold as I am involved in the packing up of the collections of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum which is closed for a major refurbishment until 2012/13. Bedford Gallery remains open until April 2011 and will finish it current series of exhibitions with 'Toulouse-Lautrec' a touring show from the British Museum.

Meanwhile I am available for private classes, from one-off workshops to ongoing development of skills during Monday to Friday evenings. Feel free to call or email me about any specific information about classes. My specialist areas are drawing, oil painting and portraiture.

Bookmark this page and in future information will appear here about my workshops, 10 week classes and private tuition.

Regular classes have included life drawing, portraiture,watercolour and oil painting.

2009-05-16T17:57:00.002+01:00

Mark Sparrow, 2009

Oil on canvas, 36x30.5cm

The Reader

2009-05-12T06:43:00.002+01:00

The Reader (Jack Sharp), 2009.

Oil on canvas over panel, 61x45.5cm

More Love and Chess

2009-05-10T21:08:00.003+01:00

The Chess Player (Johnny Parry), 2009.
Oil on canvas, 56x41cm.
From a photograph by Elizabeth Sutton.

Black and Grey with Red Shoes (Betty Frances), 2009.

2009-04-07T15:08:00.008+01:00

Oil on canvas, 102 x 81.5cm

Bedford Gallery

2009-04-02T16:44:00.006+01:00

Bedford has a new state-of-the art exhibition space as part of the new cultural quarter that also includes Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford Museum, and the nearby BCA Gallery.

Opening is:
Tuesday-Saturday 11-5
Sunday 2-5
Monday Closed.
01234 353323 and 01234 211222
www.cecilhigginsartgallery.org, www.bedfordmuseum.org

Bedford Gallery opened on 1st April 2009, and I, along with the rest of the team, have been very busy getting the space ready to open for the last few months and preparing the current exhibition, Treasures. Following on from the display of watercolours and drawings that was recently in the British Galleries at Tate Britain, Treasures brings together the best of those watercolours and drawings, as well as prints and decorative arts from the Cecil Higgins with the most beautiful and fascinating objects from Bedford Museum. There is a programme of talks and events to accompany the exhibition, and I will be doing a painting demo, recreating 'Bunkers and Sleepers' by Henry Moore following a talk on war art that commences at 1pm Wednesday 6th March.

The Wedding Portrait

2009-03-15T10:53:00.003Z

Kace and Lex - The Wedding Portrait, 2009.
Oil on canvas, 60x70cm

Despair II, 2008.

2009-03-09T17:59:00.003Z

Gouache on panel, 42x30cm.

New Painting

2009-03-08T15:38:00.006Z

Laura Harbard, 2008-09.
Oil on canvas, 50x40cm

Study for a crucifixion, after El Greco, 2004

2009-03-02T19:09:00.001Z

Pencil on paper (sketchbook), 30x20cm

Study for a Crucifixion, after Goya, 2004

2009-03-01T01:39:00.010Z

Pencil on paper (sketchbook), 30x20cm

'He writes in his room, she reads him in her room'

2009-02-26T08:33:00.012Z

(The poet, Juhana Vähänen -From a photo on the blog Bigsur ja Surreal), Feb 2009.
Oil on canvas, 60x70cm.

2009-02-21T15:38:00.004Z

Study for 'The rooms have to be blue', from Kuuskajaskari byt Jyrki Pellinen. Dec 2008. Charcoal and oil on panel.

2009-02-17T19:24:00.004Z

Self portrait, December 2008.

Oil on panel.

Some older work - The Portugal Man

2009-02-11T22:46:00.007Z

At the moment I am busy working on a couple of commissioned portraits, and thought in the meanwhile I would show some older work while new pieces and writing are on the way. The following two pictures are derived from photographs of the prolific, yet unpublished, Bedford songwriter Christian Webb. The 'Portugal Man' of the title refers to one of his self produced album of the same title.

The Portugal Man II, 2008. Oil on canvas.

The Portugal Man, 2006. Oil on canvas.

Composition in Brown, Blue and Pink, 2009.

2009-02-06T11:54:00.007Z

Oil on canvas, 60x70cm.

Life study

2009-02-02T13:17:00.004Z

A quick study made during one of the life classes I teach:

Study of a seated figure, 2009.

Pencil on paper, 27 x 21cm.

2009-01-26T15:11:00.006Z

My work so far has often been indentified by others with portraiture and the human figure. For me, however, the handling of the paint, and the way in which the subject allows me to experiment with the possibilites of paint - it's expressive and communicative potential - has been a more important factor in what my pictures are about and why I paint them in the first place.

The new abstract pictures, and the ones I hope to do in the future, are just a continuation of the bits I felt were most interesting in the figurative pieces- often the backgrounds and edges between subject ground and surface.

Blue, black and pink, 2006. Oil on card 31x31cm

A study for a dream (Unelma I&II)

2009-01-26T12:58:00.014Z

Unelma I, 2009. Oil on canvas 30.5 x 30.5cm

Jack Sharp, 2008.

2008-11-12T09:25:00.004Z

Oil on canvas, 30.5 x 30.5cm

2008-10-29T10:15:00.003Z

Isaac, 2008. Pencil on paper (from the sketchbook)

She Smokes Outside the Gate

2008-10-20T19:02:00.011+01:00

She smokes outside the gate, 2008.
Oil on canvas, 51 x 40.5cm.

in situ: theatre company

2008-10-18T21:37:00.010+01:00

The following four works all relate to performances or experiences involving the in situ: theatre company, based in Cambridge, UK. An article about these works and experinces will follow soon(ish).

Lövborg, 2006.

The Passer-by, 2006.

In the Hall of Glain Orme, 2008.

The Audience, 2008.

2.

2008-10-18T21:27:00.003+01:00

Picking through memories for meaning.
Erasing the irrelevant details.
Something evocative, not accurate.
Let the hand lead the eye...

2008-10-16T22:28:00.004+01:00

Eeva reads her poems from a folded sheet, 2008. Oil on canvas.

A Portrait of the Artist in the Studio, 2006.

2008-10-16T21:48:00.004+01:00

Oil on canvas, 2005.

1.

2008-10-16T21:03:00.003+01:00

Some subjects are vast. You need to find a smaller groove within them to furrow. A fascination with painting the human form, its image, the face, people - the human experience - doesn't give you a subject for a particular painting, it gives you a huge ocean to drown in with out the boyancy of focus. My way to find something smaller, more intimate and closer, has been to work in small concentric circles around me: my friends; musicians I have watched at a local club; a singer in a band I used to be in; my own reflected image. I have also begun to work from memories for some pieces. This started after seeing a performance by the Cambridge-based theatre company, in situ:, of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, and has since included a series of works for them based on the experience of a Theatre and Landscape week-long workshop. My pictures of nuclear tests are not a just about the people sitting in short-sleeved shirts and desert boots watching the intense blast of light and the iconic mushroom cloud that follows in a mixture of awe and ignorance of the effects of being so close to such terrible force, they are also a record of me flicking through the book '100 Suns' by Michael Light, stunned (a book that was bought for me in the run up to an exhibition by my estranged wife during a brief but doomed period of reconciliation a year or two ago).

The direction of the technical side of my work (the paint handling, the colour schemes, the mood) changed a couple of years ago after seeing Walter Sickert's Minnie Cunnigham at the Old Bedford. I was powerfully attracted to the simple palette of washed out browns and intense reds. The first picture to take this on board was The Portrait of the Artist in the Studio, a self portrait. Here, the red stands in for the dark hues, and byh a subtractive process (where the red is removed completely) the fabric of the canvas renders the plain cotton apron. The browns and scumbling attempt to create space around the figure.