Drawings from April 2018 – My sketchbooks drawn while on tour in Japan. These are prayer books bought at shrines we visited. The beautiful calligraphy are prayers written in situ by the monks. The sketches are mine done as we travelled to each location.
Review of 2018 – A year of change, time to focus.
After an amazing trip to Japan my head is full with images and ideas. I am obsessed with gold. Having visited the National gallery in Tokyo, the display of ancient gold screens, blew me away.
I cant explain why something grabs my attention, to such an extent, it becomes a major influence in my work, these beautifully painted and crafted artworks just did it for me.
We visited many of the most famous monuments and shrines in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Hiroshima, they were stunning, dramatic, historic and truly beautiful.
The “wow” moment of the whole trip was standing in front of Mt Fuji, and feeling this is an unveleivable experience. An event only paralleled with my first visit to the breath taking Taj Mahal and standing waiting for the sun to rise on Mt Everest from the brilliant vantage point of Tiger Hill in Darjeeling.
“Heaven Scent” inspired by the great shape of the pagodas and surrounded by the blossom tress. This was the second version of this painting. The technique is so random no two can be the same. The blossom on this tree was more dense, soft and blurry and made the tree look fuller and dreamy.
It’s been great to use so much gold in my work, from painting on gold backgrounds to using gold leaf. I’m using the gold as a metaphor for not only luxury, emphasising importance, and a special standing.
The use of simplistic shapes and flat colour combined with textures and gold is a homage to Hokusai and his beautiful wood cuts.
I exhibited in the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery in Pall Mall in London this October. Drawn to the Valley,a Devon based co operative of artists, hosted the exhibition for a week, 35 artists took part.