My latest work was inspired by a recent visit to Perugia. I went to the Galleria Nationals with a good friend that is a world expert on icons and religious paintings Peter Murphy. It’s brilliant going to exhibitions with him because he’s a fountain of knowledge, amazingly enthusiastic, and fun!
We spent a good few hours going thorough each painting discussing techniques, judging skills laughing about funny noses… it was an afternoon well spent. I was particularly interested in the fabrics the backgrounds, the detail. I admired not only the pristine paintings but also the ones that showed ageing, decay and distress. It fired up my creative juices, I took a huge amount of pics for reference.
I wanted to paint my own icon, not in a pristine representational way but to paint the ageing process, the bits that are worn, the under colours showing through, the colours dissapearing.
