Wednesday 26 September 2018

Who Stole The Toothpaste ?

' Who Stole The Toothpaste ? '. That could be the title of my next painting which I am currently researching.
It's about an ancestor of mine who owned a large pharmaceutical company in the early 1900s which made him a millionaire. As he had no children, it was left to nephews who bled it dry and the family fortune was lost.
I have a picture of one of the items sold - a circular, ceramic toothpaste container which I have enlarged  to provide a backdrop for some images which will be overlaid onto it (more on that, next week)
Infact, I have already ordered a circular canvas and am experimenting with the lettering which will go around the edge.
' Burgoyne, Burbidges and Company - for preserving and beautifying the teeth'
 

Wednesday 19 September 2018

Every Fifteen Minutes

With queues to die for, (I never get those at Ted Coney's Family Portraits) we were taken by our guide around Charleston farmhouse, with another group starting every fifteen minutes. As one group came out of  a room another  was waiting to go in.
It is a fascinating house, though I enjoyed the total experience more rather than individual paintings.
Also opening the week we arrived (this was pure luck on our part) was a new contemporary gallery converted from one of the old barns.
I was a bit nervous about using the new 'gender fluid' toilets though, which had been created to match the free sprits of those who once lived there.

Thursday 13 September 2018

Between Two Worlds

You can see the latest progress on my current painting 'Hinaki' (means eel trap) in the NEWS AND REVIEWS page on my website.
I've finished the white shapes to represent a maori meeting house, which symbolises the bones of their ancestors. I've also overlaid an eel trap, a fishing device which has been used around Ely and the waters off New Zealand for many years. I'm currently overlaying shapes to represent the beams of our old house to symbolise  the UK.
The painting visualises the tension between living far away with the 'traps' that keep one there and the feelings of those that are left behind. Hopefully, my picture will resonate with people who have family  whom they don't often see.

Wednesday 5 September 2018

Just One More

At the start of the visit I always explain  that I am going to do one of eight tours (see TOURS on my website) and will be covering about seven paintings. That way I hope visitors get the message that I can't talk about every painting as we go through the house.
 The other week I had a lovely family who kept asking me interesting questions about the work. They also wanted to know the ideas behind several more and I did bend the rules slightly and gave them a few juicy titbits of information. ('No it's not voodoo, it's more about control')
I hope they didn't think I was being too mean but I think an hour and a quarter is enough for anyone.