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‘Islands’. 30” x 30”. Acrylic and
dyes on Bainbridge illustration board.
Collection of A & S
W.
This is an older painting. In fact, it's one of the last I
did before taking a short sabbatical from art and prior to entering art
college. Heavily influenced by the Canadian realist movement, which was popular
at the time, this piece uses a technique refined by Canadian artists such as
Alex Coleville. The contour, tone and detail of the young woman are
painstakingly built up using layers of stippled colour with a very fine brush.
The rest of the painting is rendered with variations of stippling: The rocks
are a combination of drybrush and fine dot techniques while the sky and water
were created with coarse airbrushed dyes and acrylics. Themes of loneliness and
isolation seem to pervade my early work and this is no exception. The desolate,
leafless trees only add to the despair and there are no stepping stones to
connect to the world outside the painting with no means of escape for the
central character... I’m sure many young people still endure feelings such
as this as they struggle to find their way in life. Some people just work
through it and others express it in a more tangible form - Like me...
Oh,
and for the record:
I’m much happier now...
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