La Marguerite de Monsieur Matisse

(Above) La Marguerite de Monsieur Matisse
15.5cm x 18cm
Mixed media on paper
November 2010

As the title of this painting and post suggest, I've been looking at a famous painting by Matisse: a portrait of the artist's daughter Marguerite Duthuit, painted over 100 years ago in 1906.

La Martiniquaise

(Above) La Martiniquaise
15cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media on paper

I've been looking (as often I do) at some lithographs by Matisse, including a series of portraits of a woman from Martinique. Inspirational !

(Above) A lithograph by Matisse "La Martiniquaise"

Also, some encouraging news: the Enid Lawson Gallery (New Cavendish Street, London) has sold another of my paintings (below):













(Above) Mr Parkinson's Hat
Sold!

The Black Girl with Blue Eyeshadow

(Above) The Black Girl with Blue Eyeshadow
15.5cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media on paper.

This painting came in response to my seeing some work by Chris Ofili, in particular, No Woman, No Cry, (1998).

La Martiniquaise

(Above) La Martiniquaise
15cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media on paper

The Woman from Australia

(Above) The Woman from Australia
15cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media on paper (see earlier posts for materials typically used).

This portrait started as a study of a thumbnail photograph of sculpture of a head of a woman by the Australian artist Sarah Parker, whose work I stumbled across by chance when doing an Internet image search under "society portrait". Her work is discussed by Steve Gray in his blog at http://stevegray.com.au/blog/sarah-parker-artist/ . Here's the image that caught my eye:

(Above) A sculpture by the Australian artist Sarah Parker

The Black Boy in the Red Tee-Shirt

(Above) The Black Boy in the Red Tee-Shirt
14.5cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Windsor & Newton calligraphic inks, Daler Rowny FW acrylic inks, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons) on 100 % cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g)

Consciously or not, my paintings often reference the art that I have seen and enjoy. I have various postcards and prints pinned in my studio that hover in my peripheral vision as I work. Amongst these are:
(Below) Anna by Alex Katz 









(Below) The Arab Boy by Kees van Dongen

(Below) The Girl in the Red Blazer by Craigie Aitchison

Nanette

(Above) Nanette
15cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Windsor & Newton Indian ink, Daler Rowney Calli calligraphic ink, Daler Rowny FW acrlyic inks, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).

The Beautiful Dark-Haired Woman

(Above) The Beautiful Dark-Haired Woman
15cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Daler Rowney Calli calligraphic inks, Windsor & Newton Indian inks, Daler Rowney FW acrylic inks, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).

Who is the lady in the picture ? The clue is in the title, where the use of the definite article points to a generic. It's not a portrait of "a" specific woman, it's a portrait of a type of woman; which type? "The Beautiful Dark-Haired" type. She started as a study after various portraits by Picasso of his second wife Jacqueline Roque. As the painting developed the focus shifted to the painted surface and the image became less specific but it still retains something of a Mediterranean likeness: the beautiful dark-haired type from Italy or with southern European origins... a Mona Lisa ? Or, as it has just been suggested to me, a Nigella Lawson ?

The American Actress

(Above) The American Actress
November 2010
15cm x 18cm
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Windsor & Newton Indian ink, Daler Rowney calligraphic ink, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).

Buttons and Bows

(Above) Buttons and Bows
14cm x 18cm
November 2010
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Daler Rowney Calli calligrahic ink, Windsor & Newton Indian ink, Daler Rowney FW acrylic ink, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).
I developed this painting from a study of a portrait of Annette Kaufman by the American modernist Milton Avery, whose work I have recently discovered.

The Artist's Daughter

(Above) The Artist's Daughter
13cm x 16cm
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Daler Rowney FW acrylic ink, Windsor & Newton indian ink, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble was crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper.
November 2010

Portrait of a Woman

(Above) Portrait of a Woman
13cm x 16cm
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Windsor & Newton Indian ink, Daler Windsor & Newton Calligraphic ink, Daler Rowney FW acrylic ink, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).