The new year is already moving forward quickly and every day brings surprises – happiness, sadness, the good and bad. Extreme weather conditions, the death of David Bowie, several other high profile musicians, Sir Terry Wogan, a significant birthday, hundreds of thousands suffering the effects of war and so many events underlining how precious human life is have already affected me this year.
All this contrasting news has made me feel restless and created uncertainty in my mind. On a daily basis we hear and see things that make us extremely happy and very sad. I have thought about the future, reminisced about the past, dithered, procrastinated and wrestled with several paintings. Two of them are related to the events I have already mentioned. The first is of happiness, a double portrait of two very special friends, Shirley who celebrated her 80th birthday in January, and her husband Dennis who is already 80. They have been close friends for many years and have always been there for us when we needed them, particularly when our children were young. They have a large family which gathered together with friends for Shirley’s surprise birthday party. We are both very fond of them so I produced this painting as a birthday gift for Shirley.
Shirley and Dennis
From a very happy occasion to a sad one – the death of David Bowie. This has been widely covered in the media and came as a shock to many of us. There is no doubt that he was an enormously influential figure in the popular music world over many decades. It was not just his song-writing and performing talents but his ability to reinvent himself in different guises that made him have an impact on so many lives. We all have different memories of him and his music depending on which generation we come from. I admired him mainly for the amazing creative ideas he had in his stage persona, fashion and the lyrics that he came up with for his songs. When it came to attempting a portrait, however, I found it quite challenging, perhaps because he was seen in many different incarnations.
David Bowie
As all this was happening I have still been playing around with the picture of Penelope Cruz which is also causing similar problems as she too is difficult to pin down. I always use a selection of photos as a reference source so as not to directly infringe copyright but this is not always the easiest way to achieve a good likeness. She is of course an attractive film star and celebrity but in almost every photo her identity changes depending on the amount of make up, hair style and dress. Maybe there is a case for not attempting portraits of people you have never met! It’s time to leave this one for a while and come back to it later and try again.
I’ve also been trying to reorganise my art room and have been sifting through some old work to decide whether to scrap, paint over or revise it. For some reason I painted a view of the Thames from the air just after the sun had set to try and create the impression of a very crowded cityscape. I had used maps and several photos to create it and was about to destroy it but changed my mind at the last minute. As I noted at the start of this blog, I’m currently rather preoccupied with the way time is rapidly passing and for now it’s been retrieved. I used to be indecisive but now I’m not so sure!
The theme running through this blog it is the change from light to dark in our lives, the highs and lows, day and night – the examples are endless. It is also a fundamental concept in certain areas of the visual arts, none more so than in the work of one artist I have revered for many years, Caravaggio. He’s been the subject of much research and speculation recently plus a spate of televised documentaries about him and his tumultuous short life; his paintings were a triumph but his life was tragic and, even after his death, his mad, bad, dangerous lifestyle has been reflected in subsequent events. In 1969 his “Nativity” painting was stolen from the San Lorenzo Oratory in Palermo, Sicily and never been seen since. Nobody knows whether it still exists and numerous theories exist as to the culprits. Most experts believe the Mafia were involved in the theft. Some believe the work may have been destroyed. Recently a copy has been hung in the church which has been reproduced from old photographs using modern digital technology. In all Caravaggio’s works his figures are dramatically lit and seem to burst out of the darkness and several times I’ve tried to emulate him in my own paintings. Here’s a work in the style of Caravaggio:-
Caravaggio Woman
Let’s hope that as we progress through 2016 much more light will enter the world and love and peace replace violence, suffering and death.