"Look out my window and what do I see . . ." David Bowie and Nativity windows

Here are the most recent in the occasional window painting series.
First, another 'In Memoriam', this time for David Bowie. I scraped off the Nativity scene on Monday morning and painted, in a state of disbelief, with the excellent BBC Radio 6 Music coverage of Bowie's death and listeners' responses on in the background, his portrait from the 1977 'Low' LP cover in its place. His Space Oddity / Changes / Velvet Goldmine EP was one of my first records and he's been a constant musical presence for the last 40 + years.
This painting was for my wife Julie - a lifelong and very upset Bowie fan -  as well as for me, and of course for anyone passing by who noticed .
As before, it's painted in acrylics on the inside of the glass of our bay window. Call by and take a look.

 

 

 

On the same window over Christmas I did just a detail of the magnificent Adoration of the Shepherds by the Genoese painter Bernardo Strozzi (1581 - 1644). I drew on the whole scene in chinagraph but having painted just the middle section - the Madonna and Child - I decided to leave it at that.  I like the look of artwork where the main part is well-finished but with rough, torn or in some way unfinished edges. Because of those strange sketch books I had as a child, perhaps ; a sort of tracing paper that you scribbled over and the picture was revealed, or those where you painted water on and a pale coloured picture appeared ? Or was it those Gerald  Incandela photographs where he painted developer on the photographic paper that I tried to emulate in the darkroom as a teenager ?

Anyhow, the original painting in it's entirety is in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore if you're in the area . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Window 2014 - and some other ribbonry

Here's a picture of the studio window this December and also some cards that I've done recently. The window one is another temporary painting in acrylics on the inside of the glass, while the cards are Unipin pens (0.3, 0.5 and 0.8mm) coloured in with watercolour.
I'd always liked lettered scrolls twisted around things, which led - over the last few weeks - to the anniversary card (the kitchen knife and D'Arcy Spice apple), then to the birthday card  (the bunch of roses), and the Christmas card ( the bunch of winter foliage from Rachel's garden) and the window version.
The lettering on the window's a quote from 'Christmas 1979' by Billy Childish and the MBEs. Check it out here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjPEreVrms

I've put an additional picture of the window, slightly altered on New Year's Eve. Amazing what one can do on Photoshop, isn't it ? Or even with a Stanley blade and some more paint.

 

Before . . . .

 

 

 

. . . . and after

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RIP RIK

A sad and unexpected addition to the occasional series of obituary portraits on the studio window - the extremely funny Rik Mayall.  He for me, despite a succession of highly regarded comic roles, will always be remembered as Rick from The Young Ones, and of course for this quality performance too:  http://youtu.be/gGOU0o9K89g   Marvellous !
Like its predecessors this is painted in acrylics on the inside of the window. Rather blocky and rough but definitely Rik !

Oh my hat, Dillinger AND Yellowman AND Lee Scratch Perry at Colchester Arts Centre !

After The Abyssinians played there last summer Colchester Arts Centre seems to be on the circuit for Jamaican bands touring the UK. Within a few weeks of each other I've recently had the pleasure of seeing, hearing and indeed drawing first, Dillinger and Yellowman  (both backed by the excellent Sagittarius Band, who didn't even pause for a moment or a drink between the two headliners), and second, Lee Scratch Perry and The Upsetters, who were supported by a cracking local band, Hobo Chang - www.hobochang.co.uk .
Anyway, I managed to get down to the front and, with some discreet illumination from the phone torch, get these pen drawings done. I used a 0.2mm Unipin fineliner in a Pink Pig spiral-bound A6 sketchbook and coloured them in with watercolour later.

 

 

 

A couple of Dillinger, one with The Sagittarius band behind...

 

 

 

 

 

 

.... and a couple of Yellowman, one with the band.

 

 

 

Hobo Chang ....

 

 

 

 

.... The Upsetters ...

 

 

 

... and Lee Scratch Perry !

(yes, that is a birthday cake on his head, with lit candles too)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

36mm Dell'Ortos

Prior to cleaning the years of petrol stains off these carbs I thought they'd make a good subject for a painting. There was no particular intention to use such a restricted palette - they really were (and indeed still are) just shades of ochre, grey and mauve.

 

36mm Dell'Ortos

Oil on canvas    12" x 9"

£300

Beware of the Flowers ....

These are some of the flowers from Rachel's garden, which she takes down to The Loft for table decorations.  I was inspired to paint these from life last summer; after a particularly onerous commission I needed some simple beauty.  
Selections of flowers were picked and artfully arranged (really !) and painted in oils in the portrait booth up at the studio..
They're currently on display at The Loft

 

Jar I 

Oil on canvas   9" x 12"

£200

 

Bottle

Oil on canvas   9" x 12"

£200

 

 

 

 

 

Orangina I

Oil on canvas    9" x 12"

£200

 

 

 

 

Orangina II

Oil on canvas   9" x 12"

£200

 

 

 

 

Jar II

Oil on canvas    16" x 20"

£450

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maverick 2013

We spent a great weekend at the Maverick Festival - www.maverickfestival.co.uk - last July and I managed to get loads of sketching done, while listening to superb music and meeting all sorts of interesting people. It's a thoroughly civilised set-up at Easton Farm Park, and with a complete freedom that has long disappeared from the bigger festivals.
Here are a selection of the drawings; they're all done with the usual UniPin 0.2mm in an A6 spiral-bound Pink Pig sketchbook, then coloured in with watercolours later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Window Action - Mandela, Lou Reed and the Baby Jesus !

The death of Nelson Mandela resulted in worldwide comment and commemoration - including this painting on the inside of our studio window. I didn't want to see Lou off so soon, so the look is overlapping posters on a Camden wall.
I first became aware of Mandela and South African politics in the early eighties, possibly as a direct result of this truly marvellous song by The Specials. Take a look at www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgcTvoWjZJU

 

On the other window I've done a painting for Christmas based on the central figures from Caravaggio's marvellous and inspiring and intriguing and emotionally moving ( or is it just me ? ) Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence of 1609. The original is lost - presumably irretrievably - having been cut out of its frame in the Oratory of S. Lorenzo in Palermo in 1969. Again, it's whacked onto the inside of the glass in acrylics and close up is quite crude but the impact from a distance seems to work well enough.

 

 

 

Thurrock Thameside Nature Park sketches

I heard the very interesting programme, Shared Planet, on Radio 4 yesterday morning, which included a report from the former landfill site in south Essex on the banks of the Thames that is now Thurrock Thameside Nature Park. This prompted me to look out and post these old drawings that I did there on a gloriously sunny yet very windy day last November.
They're done with a 0.2mm Unipin waterproof ink pen and watercolours in an A6 Pink Pig sketchbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lou Reed Window

As a fan of Lou Reed since the late 70s I thought the least I could do to mark his death last Sunday was to paint an instantly recognizable image of him on our studio window: hence this, the cover of his 1972 album Transformer. The picture's had a lot of  recognition and appreciation this week - I didn't know he had so many fans in Tollesbury.
It's painted in the same way as previous windows (Advent Calendar, Caravaggio's Adoration of the Shepherds, Diamond Jubilee, Etta James), on the inside of the glass in acrylics.

Boat Race Sketchbook

Our friend Simon and his son Finley invited Gabriel and I out on their boat to crew in a race out of Brightlingsea a couple of weekends ago. The almost total lack of wind led to a leisurely and sociable afternoon, and between tacks there was plenty of time to get the sketchbook out. These are all pages from my current favourite - a spiral-bound A6 Pink Pig - and are drawn with a 0.2mm Unipin then coloured in with watercolour later.