Max's Portrait
In honour of international Dog's day I'm talking about a very special Dog Portrait commission. Find out about Max’s story, and why it deeply moved me.
Early stages, sketching out Max’s portrait on my wacom tablet.
In celebration of international Dog’s Day I wanted to talk about a very special commission that deeply moved me.
I was contacted by John, whose first year ‘paper’ wedding anniversary was coming up and wanted to gift his lovely wife a portrait of their beloved dog, Max.
Max had, very sadly, died a week before their wedding the previous year, and his absence was greatly felt. Not least because of the powerful association Max had with their son, who had also passed away.
We decided on a monochrome, digital charcoal medium. When finished, the portrait was printed on thick archival art paper and framed.
Drawing freehand on my wacom tablet, I lost myself in the quiet contemplation of Max’s beautiful face, illuminated by seaside sunshine, animated by the dancing light reflected in the water around him. The powerful symbolism of the sea enfolding him. On the horizon I added two sailing boats, with the ‘somewhere beyond the sea’ associations of loved ones lost.
Finished PORTRAIT OF MAX, DIGITAL CHARCOAL DRAWING
When Kate, John’s wife, received the portrait, she said the following:
Words can’t really describe how wonderful Max’s portrait is, but I’ll have a go. I’ll admit that there were a number of tears shed when his portrait was given to me. Max was a soul dog and the best friend we could have possibly asked for. As a hugely loyal companion especially to our eldest son and I, he was an incredible comfort after the loss of our eldest son. Somehow our wonderful Labrador just knew how to hold space for us all. Consequently when Max passed away in 2021 it hit hard. Susie has beautifully captured Max in his portrait, so much so that he embodies the same soulful presence that he did in life. I take genuine comfort from his portrait everyday and really cannot thank her enough. Thank you Susie 💛
Experiences like this touch on something beyond a simple exchange of words, they go right into the very heart of us and open up dialogues full of meaning, healing and growth.
Do you have a special someone you would like me to paint?
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Better Late than Never
Read about my slightly belated trip to this year’s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy and discover which artists stood out for me.
Better late than never!
I finally made it to this years Summer exhibition at the Royal Academy - just in time on its last day!
Happy to report that, aside from a couple of stock favourites of mine [Paula Rego and Chris Orr], most of the works I was drawn to were by artists completely new to me.
I have included a selection of my favourites, with the respective artists names & IG handles, so do go and look them up!
Puppetry, storytelling, and the playfully, at times sinisterly unexpected, seem to be the main ingredients of this selection, along with an appreciation for the skilled handling of medium.
They have definitely given me food for thought which I'm sure will inspire a picture or two in the coming months!
Thank you to @david_remfry_ra for his excellent curation this year and thank you to all the artists that participated, especially those mentioned here. Keep creating and keep sharing!
Is Painting Therapy?
Sharing my new painting ‘This Little Pig’ and talking about how creating and therapy go hand in hand and the rich layers of thoughts and meanings a painting can represent.
What and why I paint is bound up in who I am, and the process of creating is always one of discovery. My new painting This Little Pig is rooted in a personal narrative.
The pig in question is based on a 1930s clockwork toy pig. I have seen quite a few versions of him over the years, some in mint condition, some in the company of fellow pig musicians. But this particular toy, picked up by my father, years ago at Sandown Park, is a bit bashed, with faded colours, and has a very particular expression the others did not.
His eyes are bright, alive, curious and hopeful. Paired with the drum, there is a sense of ‘declaration’ in his attitude, all of which got me thinking. I began projecting ideas onto him, seeing in him a symbol of strength and resolve, a theme I like to explore in my work, as a way to refuel my own determination in the face of challenge and difficulties.
The rough composition for this painting has been bouncing around my mind since 2017, but it was only in the last few months I actually got it out of my head and into a painting.
Graffiti, as I discussed in my last blog post, plays an important role here, weaving together a mix of ideas. I do dabble in journaling but there is something different about putting things together visually. It has a way of tapping into multiple layers of feeling, sometimes in harmony, sometimes contradictory, but all somehow true. Painting helps me anchor these thoughts in one place, without words or judgement - giving the feeling a face which I can hold up and reflect on, somehow helping me make sense of it.
In a way, any act of creation has an element of this, but certainly some paintings feel more cathartic than others. This Little Pig is about building something of your own, out of your hopes, dreams and vulnerability and pitching this energy against the inevitable challenges of life.
I would love to know how this painting lands with you, does he resonate? what points of reference does he connect with for you? Let me know your thoughts.
Whilst I usually print my digital paintings on Art paper, I decided to experiment with this painting and print it on canvas, which is now available to view in my shop.
You can explore buying options by clicking the picture below.
This fine art print is of my original digital painting of a vintage toy drummer pig set within an imagined urban stage. It was painted free hand using a stylus and pressure sensitive tablet on a computer.
Each print from this digital painting is an original; professionally printed on canvas, with top grade, light fast, fade-resistant inks.
Free UK shipping
For international shipping please CLICK HERE for a quote
Why Graffiti Lights Me Up
A Trip to Lisbon, the Museu Banksy and my general musings on the power and relevance of graffiti and why I use it in my paintings.
Graffiti, the ultimate medium for taking familiar imagery or ideas and combining them in unexpected, playful ways, in a living, breathing, ever changing context. Beautifully unregulated and ephemeral, graffiti is an irreverent mixing pot of aesthetics and concepts, often satirical, offering a constantly evolving commentary on the social, political and economic cultures that surround us.
I’ve been mesmerised by it for years, and often find my eye on the hunt for these unexpected treasures as I walk around a city. No quirk of street furniture or structure is beyond interest, from sticker-plastered municipal bins to dilapidated walls, covered with graffiti, it all excites and engages my imagination.
I’ve recently returned from a few days in Lisbon, on a rare hop out of the UK. There were two particular encounters that gave me pause for thought. The first, a visit to the Tejo Power Station, where a contemporary art display left me feeling completely unengaged and unstimulated. The sterility and obscure, machine mediated concepts, of the display, surrounded by vast quantities of white walls felt quietly depressing. The second, and in contrast, were my happy wonderings up and down the streets of central Lisbon, I felt like Alice in Wonderland, discovering something interesting round every corner.
As if in celebration of this rich graffiti culture, Lisbon has set up the Museu Banksy , an immersive ‘Banksy’ experience, bringing together, through reproductions, some of Banksy most famous pieces. A walk around in time and place, charting work from the early 2000s around Bristol and London, through France, America, the Gaza strip in Israel, all the way up to the most recent pieces in the Ukraine. It really gave a flavour of the power and spirit of what graffiti can do and left me feeling very engaged and revved up!
As some of you know, I often weave graffiti into my paintings to visualise ideas and internal emotional states. The dynamic, raw and colourful quality of it, the serendipitous dialogues it strikes up, offers endless possibilities and seem a fitting language in which to visually discuss the human condition.
I could definitely write a lot more about this subject, but will leave it here for now and invite you to reflect on your own encounters with this lively medium, and ask, what your views on it are?
