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Vulnerability
So often we avoid vulnerability or see it as a weakness. Showing true vulnerability requires great courage. Just being "you", trusting you are enough in your perfectly imperfect humanness is a step towards authenticity, liberation and an acceptance of your rightful place in our shared common humanity. It is the beating heart of compassion. This painting is my raised right hand asserting my existence and wish to reach out and connect with others. However, my hand is slipping into the cold water behind as I call out in the hope to be given the opportunity to finish the very last phase of my clinical treatment. Holding onto my hard fought progress is tricky with the holes that remain my hand. Expressing needs, clinical or otherwise, is part of vulnerability. Because true vulnerability and sincere connection with others is vital for us to flourish this painting is symbolic of the courage we all show in this pursuit in overcoming our fears of rejection, judgement and criticism en route. Original acrylic on canvas 30"x40" £5200 in a bespoke handmade frame by QED. |
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Free Spirited
This painting is very special in that unlike so much of my work it was painted "in the moment" and was allowed the freedom to just be and evolve throughout the creative process. I think the result really is free spirited. Heavily textured through the use of a palette knife in wet oil paint, and with a very high pigment loading of my own mix of blues using the most precious and expensive Lapis Lazuli it appears to vibrate with an energy of it's own. The figure is whatever you want it to be. It evolved as the painting matured; just like we do. Maybe you feel your own free spirit in it. Maybe it is a reminder to find that free spirt within you if you have lost touch with it amongst the trials and tribulations of life's journey. Original oil on canvas 30"x40" £5200 in a bespoke handmade frame by QED. |
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White Out (between the worlds)
I still remember as a child watching the television after all the programmes for the night had come to an end and the screen would just show the black and white flicker of snow. I would still watch it in some kind of trance without any cognitive thought. This painting is my take on that human condition where we from time to time zone out and find ourselves in that not unfamiliar state of dissociation between worlds and beyond colour. We may go round and around in our minds ruminating without even being conscious of the subject matter upon which we are thinking and sometimes we are not thinking anything at all! It was a bold choice to paint this particularly as I love colour but in the frame by QED it is a stunning piece which captures something we can all relate to. Very contemporary and very relevant. Highly textured and painted in thick oil applied with a palette knife. Original oil on canvas 30"x40" £5200 in a bespoke handmade frame by QED. |
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Opportunity
Following on from White Out and getting back to colour I painted an optimistic textured piece in celebration of the creativity and curiosity in seeking out opportunity in its many forms. The painting shows how everyone and everything is interconnected but not always in ways you might think. When your eye follows this painting you become aware of the transition between shape and colour and retain some notion of where you started. But as you get deeper into the painting you will notice more about changes in tone and opacity. These subtleties give you the opportunity to take a fresh look at where you find yourself in the painting. Does it now feel different to where you started? Does and opaque yellow next to translucent indigo next to a transparent violet feel different to three opaque colours close together? So many possibilities and therefore so many opportunities. If that is true in the painting then it must be true in the flow of life. We of course lose sight of this from time to time so this painting is a reminder to us all that we do have choices and in making such choices we have the opportunity to learn, love and flourish. Original oil on canvas 30"x40" £5200 in a bespoke handmade frame by QED. |
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Arousal
When we are aroused we become awakened and our senses become heightened as we prepare for action. In this painting a swelling rises out of the centre kindling a gentle heat firing up the emotional alertness and anticipation of what is to come. This is not however an arousal of a perceived threat, rather it is the arousal stirred up from sexual attraction. The first blush, the first desire, the unexplored. Heart beating faster, heat and lust. Every fibre within feeling an urgent energy flowing through it. Deliberately painted with warm lustful reds as the arousal continues I see the cool blues also turning red. Original acrylic on canvas 30"x40" £5200 in a bespoke handmade frame by QED. |
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Lovingly Intertwined
When lovingly Intertwined in mind, body and spirit all parts can truly touch to the extent the union of two really does become one. Limbs entangle and explore, thoughts can be expressed without words and a sense of wellbeing, belonging and heartfelt vulnerability descends. This painting represents what many of us seek, an authentic connection, tender intimacy, mutual acceptance and deep loving friendship. The softness of the palette suggests the warmth, trust and safeness where one can become truly lovingly intertwined. Original oil on canvas 30"x40" £5200 in a bespoke handmade frame by QED. |