La femme de la Martinique II and Blue Olympia

(Above) La Femme de la Martinique II
14.5cm x 18cm
Mixed media (Indian and acrylic inks, water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g)
July 2011


(Below) Blue Olympia
14.5cm x 18cm
Mixed media on paper (as above)
July 2011

Christine (in her black dress)

(Above) Christine (in her black dress)
14.5cm x 17cm
July 2011
Mixed media on paper (Indian and acrylic inks, water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).


(Below) Flowers from the garden
14.5cm x 17 cm
July 2011
Mixed media on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).

Bildnis einer Frau

(Above) Bildnis einer Frau
July 2011
14.5cm x 18cm

I've been looking again at the work of the German Expressionists (hence the title for this painting, which was developed from the drawing below), in particular some of the portraits by Max Beckmann and some of the woodcuts by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.

(Above) Bildnis einer Frau
July 2011

(Above) "Resting Woman with Carnations" by Max Beckmann

(Above) A woodcut by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884-1976)

Sold!

(Above) The Floppy Hat - SOLD!
April 2011
15.5cm x 18cm
Mixed media on paper.

A number of my paintings are for sale at the Enid Lawson Gallery, New Cavendish Street, London. The gallery has just emailed me to let me know that this painting has now been sold. The original post about this painting (dated Wednesday 6th April 2011 and entitled "The Floppy Hat") is now in the Archive. To see this and other older posts, keep scrolling down to the bottom of the page and follow the links to the Archive. 

Click here to go directly to the gallery's website:  

The Enid Lawson Gallery, New Cavendish Street, London

Le Chat

(Above) Le Chat
14.5cm x 18cm
Mixed media on paper
July 2011

From time to time my cat wanders into my studio and makes himself at home. From time to time he appears in my drawings and paintings. 

Femme nue, femme noire

(Above) Femme nue, femme noire
2011
Mixed media (inks, watercolour, water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper.
15cm x 18cm

The title of this painting refers to a poem by the Senegalese poet and statesman Léopold Sédah Senghor. It's not the first time that I've referenced this poem in my work. I've developed this painting from a drawing that I produced using the  Handwriting App of the Sony e-reader. It's a method that I use regularly; one of the advantages of working in this way is that there is opportunity to produce a number of different versions of the same drawing. I used a reversed image of this same drawing to produce another painting:"Naked in Red" (see left hand column), which is presently held at the Enid Lawson Gallery, New Cavendish Street, London.

Femme nue, femme noire
Vétue de ta couleur qui est vie, de ta forme qui est beauté
J'ai grandi à ton ombre; la douceur de tes mains bandait mes yeux
Et voilà qu'au coeur de l'Eté et de Midi,
Je te découvre, Terre promise, du haut d'un haut col calciné
Et ta beauté me foudroie en plein coeur, comme l'éclair d'un aigle

Femme nue, femme obscure
Fruit mûr à la chair ferme, sombres extases du vin noir, bouche qui fais lyrique ma bouche
Savane aux horizons purs, savane qui frémis aux caresses ferventes du Vent d'Est
Tamtam sculpté, tamtam tendu qui gronde sous les doigts du vainqueur
Ta voix grave de contralto est le chant spirituel de l'Aimée

Femme noire, femme obscure
Huile que ne ride nul souffle, huile calme aux flancs de l'athlète, aux flancs des princes du Mali
Gazelle aux attaches célestes, les perles sont étoiles sur la nuit de ta peau.

Délices des jeux de l'Esprit, les reflets de l'or ronge ta peau qui se moire

A l'ombre de ta chevelure, s'éclaire mon angoisse aux soleils prochains de tes yeux.

Femme nue, femme noire
Je chante ta beauté qui passe, forme que je fixe dans l'Eternel
Avant que le destin jaloux ne te réduise en cendres pour nourrir les racines de la vie.

Aphrodite (wore a red dress)

(Above) Aphrodite (wore a red dress) 
14.5cm x 18cm
Mixed media (Faber Castel Albrecht Durer watercolour crayons, Windsor & Newton Indian Inks, Daler Rowney acrylic inks, Caran d'ache Neocolour II water-soluble wax crayons) on 100% cotton rag, acid-free paper (200g).
 July 2011