I took a visit to the Museo Sorolla in Madrid today. I've been so many times but every time I'm struck by the integrity Sorolla paints with. He honours the painting tradition, his family, country and culture in every painting. He knew the world he inhabited inside out; perhaps an essential trait to any artist. If an artist does not know his own world completely, he cannot convey it effectively to others. He made his world and all within it deeply known to others.
Sorolla's use of the different tones of white in his paintings is phenomenal. By far my most favourite painting by him is one called Madre (Mother) which pictures his wife, Clotilde, with their baby on a bed covered in white sheets. The entire painting is executed in different tones of white, save the heads of the baby and Clotilde which are expertly brought to life by just a few strokes.
My recent inspiration began with my fascination of the character Queequeq from Moby Dick. What a rich picture Melville paints of his character. I was struck by the primitivity of Queequeq; both in his mannerisms and physical appearance. He reminded of a cave man and allowed me to glimpse into what we truly are as humans when everything else is stripped away. We so often disguise raw humanity with with material possessions; inventions, technology, conveniences and the things we daily rely upon. These things allow us to live a higher life, while we lose our footing a little and forget who we are. A tree needs roots to grow.
I feel paintings beginning to form out of this. Here's a mood board:
This video is just beautiful: The colours, filming, landscape, reflections, light and shadow, the figure and the bird's flight. I find it incredibly moving and telling of human nature, our desire to live in relation to the environment around us; our existence and the way we long for so much more. The boy introduces a playful element to the video. The way a child innocently views the world can be incredibly refreshing and humbling.
So excited about making a feature wall of paintings for my church in Madrid http://oasismadrid.org/! They have a new space and asked me to make some paintings for it. It's a fantastic opportunity to work on a large scale which I love doing and to give back some of what the Church has given me. I've been thinking about how I can incorporate the church identity without it becoming too narrative. There were no specifications so I had to think about what would best suit the space and the people who use it.
The design has evolved as I have considered the proposal the past month. Throughout my time in Spain this church has truly been an "oasis" to me; somewhere I can go to be spiritually renewed and refreshed, so the paintings make reference to this. They will be a series of three paintings, displayed diagonally on the wall, and increasing by a third in size from top to bottom. Each one will contain the figure of a woman. Two paintings will display her completely immersed beneath the water and the other painting will show her lying on the surface of the water, a reflection of the sky under her. They will act as progressions, so that the eye travels diagonally upwards along the wall. Here's a mood board of ideas:
The series of portraits I produced last year have profound personal meaning for me. They were a poignant reflection upon the transience of human life. As I developed photos of my ancestors in the dark room from old family negatives, the images resonated with me. Although the subjects were dead in reality, they breathed some kind of life afresh through the photographs. I began to paint the same image many times. Each painting assumed a different persona as I did. I thought of it in terms of "resurrecting"; attributing to this being a new lease of life in art world or speculating upon what her character could have been. I see her as hovering between a state of life and death.
I am glad that they have a good home now with Frank, a lovely man who bought them, and who lets me visit the paintings and him whenever I like.
Miguel Barcelo is one of my favourite contemporary artists. His paintings are full of life, feeling, vitality and expression. He feeds an energy and passion into the making of his paintings which then becomes so transparent in the viewing of them. The viewing experience standing before his paintings is always a generous one; uplifting, thought-provoking and reflective as it is. His work installed in Church spaces, seems to follow in the gothic tradition of Antonio Gaudi.
I first experienced his paintings first-hand in a retrospective held in the Caixa Forum, Madrid in 2010. The surface is thickly encrusted with paint and speaks of the crude process by which the paint in applied. He seems to cut to the heart, expressing emotion powerfully. Not delicate or fearful in his mark-making, he boldly and forcefully, speaks visually with such conviction. He reminds me that in order to convict my audience, I must first be convicted of what I am doing myself. Painting must speak of truth and belief.
"If I had a Boat" by James Vincent has become a favourite song of mine for its beautiful visuals, lyrics and the musical talent it displays. Watery images influence me greatly because of my upbringing by the sea, which has shaped me. I love that the tide always has a mood so reflective and thought-provoking as though the waves carry whispers that transcend time. Recently the human form submerged beneath water has spoken to me, inspired in particular by Pre-Raphaelite painters, such as John Everett Millais and JW Waterhouse.
I am drawn to figures suspended in space, hand gestures, old ruins and profound natural surroundings, particularly of water. These are things to me that epitomise humanity and express tangibly and gesturally how we relate to the world around us. I use poetic, metaphorical, symbolic devices to point to higher meaning. My stance is philosophical, reflecting my Christian faith. Myth, history, mystery and spirituality often enter my work.
Hello! I'm glad you can join me on my artistic journey! I am a Christian Fine Art graduate from Wimbledon College of Art, London. I continue to paint in Madrid this year, where I work and live. There are two parts to this blog; one is written reflections on books I've read and the other is my visual progress and inspiration.Enjoy!
