The Back Log - You Are Not Your Stuff

A lot has happened since March.  I have been involved in 2 big group shows and sold over 20 paintings but most of my efforts on the art front have been directed towards The Armed Forces Art Society show in mid July.  I have just taken over from John Ashton as the Chairman of the Society (we don't have a President as others do but we do have HRH Prince Charles as our Patron) and so felt that I ought to take a lead, especially in our contemporary show we call Out of Line (OOL).

I put 2 paintings in to OOL, the first one being You Are Not Your Stuff.  I saw this graffiti on a wall in Moss Side, Manchester.  The wall has gone now as it was part of a disused factory that has been demolished but I remembered the 'message' and thought that it would be worth making into a painting with a 'messenger' and recipient in it.  After many tries at ideas I went for a simple approach.  Maddy would be the angel and I would be some old bloke with a suitcase.

Here is the start.  I had part of a photograph of the wall gicleé printed onto the centre of a large piece of canvas and developed the painting round that.  The bricks were a nightmare to paint as I kept on having to add courses to expand the composition.

I added the angel and put Maddy's face on it and prepared a space for me on the right:

Angel And Surrounding Landscape Added

I painted the angel and me and then worked for ages on all the brickwork.  I had to design a new landscape and get the perspective right so there is a tiny dot marked 'VP' (vanishing point) in the middle somewhere.




Angel Painted and Self About To Be Added On Right



 Here is the final version hung in the Threadneedle Space, the Mall Galleries.


The Final Version in The AFAS Show