Two months have flown by and there has been much to think about during this time. Painting has taken a back seat, as family comes first, and I’ve been doing my best to help my wonderful wife, Christine, after a serious operation involving major surgery. Fortunately progress has been good. She has recovered well and we now await further news about the remaining treatment.
During the month I was therefore able to prepare for taking part in another group exhibition at the wonderful La Galleria in Pall Mall which took place from 6th to 19th July. I did not have time to paint any new work but was able to display two pictures not seen in public before – a small seascape “Tranquility 2″ and a portrait of Leonard Cohen. Here is the personalised flyer/invitation advertising the show, showing sections of these two paintings in the centre.
It was good to be motivated for this event and, even though I did not sell any of the five paintings displayed, there was much interest in my work and I’m still hopeful that there will be a follow up from some of the people who viewed it as I’m anxious to raise some money for causes that are important to me. The three other paintings in the exhibition are shown below.
A Hero’s Life (The Life of Richard Strauss)
A Hero’s Life is about the music and life of Strauss and was painted in 2006 in an effort to use colours, sound patterns evoked by the lush, extravagant orchestrations of music in many of his operas and tone poems. On occasions his output has been compared to the rich, ornamental art in the later paintings of Gustav Klimt and there is a reference to the artist in the bottom right hand section of my picture. Klimt was active in Vienna at the time Richard Strauss used to visit the city and was loosely connected with the composer through his obsession with Alma Schindler who moved in visual art circles and later married Gustav Mahler. This painting means much to me personally as it was shown on BBC 4 in the interval of one of the promenade concerts in September 2006 when the subject of synesthesia was discussed by Charles Hazelwood, the conductor, and a guest expert, Jane Mackay, on the subject who specialised in painting colours she sees from musical sounds.
View from the Thames 2012 and Zaragoza
The photo above was taken by our daughter Trudi Knight who came along with Jason, her husband. I’m really keen to sell some work this year even though I doubt that I will be taking part in any more exhibitions. The number of paintings on boards, canvases, and frames or other art- associated materials is ever growing and we are rapidly running out of storage space. One painting that I have been trying to improve for some time has been put on hold yet again. Previous blogs refer to the difficulties I have been having this year and the one in question is no different. Its current state is shown below:-
The Other Woman (2)
In conclusion, during the Pall Mall exhibition I spent a few minutes viewing a small exhibition of watercolours by Chris Ofili at the National Gallery which also features a large tapestry based on his works by a small team of specialist weavers – it’s called “Weaving Magic” and it certainly is what it claims to be!
He set them a challenge and the weavers well and truly rose to it by producing a stunning piece of work on a very large scale.