Whilst the colours outside have been getting bright, silly and crystalline they have been remaining muddy and warm in the studio. A few months ago I inherited my Grandma’s oil paints. Her self portrait, aged eighteen, has watched me from my bedroom wall for fifteen years and the palette of dried leaves, clouded light and milk is something I see everyday.
The amount of brown paints she left was incredible, some so old the metal tubes were dissolving around the wet oil, and I got to work first categorising and then playing with the new palette.
I have been using these beautiful browns whilst working on my biggest painting yet for an upcoming show.
From my sketchbook...
From my sketchbook...
I drew this sketch in Micheal Woolworth’s Paris printmaking atelier almost ten years ago but it’s always stuck with me. At around midday, after a studious morning on the huge lithography presses one of Micheal’s assistant printmakers disappeared to a back corner of the atelier to cook. And at 12.30 lunch began; served on a long wooden table amid a riot of colourful Jim Dine editions that stood splendidly against the walls. A salad to start followed by seafood pasta served with small glass of red wine, then an apple tart brought from someone’s mother that morning in Normandy, coffee and cigarettes all round. The lunch table served as a setting for creative ideas to be hashed out and worried through. After two hours work began again with new solutions and ideas in tow - it was glorious and Micheal assured me they did it every day.
From my studio wall...
A tiny section of larger than life lychees in progress on my new painting. To see some more of my paintings click here
Would you rather dauphinoise or Jacket potato? Jacket potato for sure, although I can’t remember the last time I had one. We had them every Tuesday at school with a topping bar and used to compete for creative flair. I was all about tuna Mayo and cheddar, I don’t think I even attempted to top it!
What recipe do you cook for your loved ones? Loved ones are always on the receiving end of a plate of slop like slow braised beans with some sort of raw green slaw & tahini sauce or peanut sauce , a salsa verde for the beans, a great hunk of cheese (I like to celebrate just one big one rather than a board) and a handsome loaf.
What do you cook when you’re sick? When I’m sick I drink many cups of fermented garlic honey, ginger & lemon tea and bowls of chicken soup with lots of fresh lemon juice or fire cider glugged over.
What recipe do you cook for your loved ones? Loved ones are always on the receiving end of a plate of slop like slow braised beans with some sort of raw green slaw & tahini sauce or peanut sauce , a salsa verde for the beans, a great hunk of cheese (I like to celebrate just one big one rather than a board) and a handsome loaf.
What do you cook when you’re sick? When I’m sick I drink many cups of fermented garlic honey, ginger & lemon tea and bowls of chicken soup with lots of fresh lemon juice or fire cider glugged over.