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Tuesday 10 November 2009

Last Suppers and Tea Parties

Have been caught up in a number of projects recently, which have swallowed all my spare moments, it seems. Not quite clear yet, but getting there. Some have been enjoyably creative, some administrative and some domestic ... and then there's the work that pays to put bread on the table ... next to the wine and fish, of course. Escaped to Melbourne at the weekend to veg out, hang out and catch a couple of exhibitions devoted to Leonardo Da Vinci: Anatomy to Robots and Peter Greenaway's superb Leonardo's Last Supper. Also took the chance to visit The Horn, a wonderful Ethiopian restaurant in Collingwood. What a supper that was.


Either side of that, have been throwing a bit of acrylic paint at a canvas again. All in the name of charity.

Made a decision a few years back not to spend any more time painting, but to concentrate on writing instead; however, was asked recently to create a painting for a charity auction - for the local hospital - which will take place this weekend. (Resolutions are worth nothing if they can't be broken.) It became a family affair, with three of us swearing at easels, trying to meet the deadline.


Mine (Tea Party - Encroaching Shadows below) was influenced by Lewis Carroll's mad Hatter's tea party and Charles Blackman's Alice in Wonderland series of paintings, which I saw a couple of years back (see above). Also by the 'dark forest' as a motif in story-telling. There's a lot I'd have to learn about technique and ways of seeing before I ever got to be a half-decent painter, but I had a great time experimenting with perspective, light, shadows and brush strokes to create visual images rather than with words, rhythm and silences. All very therapeutic. Time to get back to the written word again now though ... once I've had a bite of supper.

6 comments:

Saph said...

What the flag nog - hidden talents eh!?

gary davison said...

A man of many! Great stuff Paul. Creativity on so many fronts. I think you should be the next Newcastle United manager. We need some creativity in our team!

Paul Burman said...

Had to look up WTF and now I have to see Monsters vs Aliens. Cheers, Mike.

Soccer would just about finish me, Gary. Definitely one front too many there. 22 men kicking a ball from one end of a field to another for 90 minutes and rarely managing to park the thing between the two posts! Gimme more excitement than that ... like watching paint dry, for example.

Swubird said...

Paul:

What a great talent you have. That painting is fabulous.

Happy trails.

Jane Turley said...

Fab, fab, fab. They're great paintings Paul. I love the caricature within a realistic setting.

So now you need to do a book of short stories with illustrative pictures attached!

Paul Burman said...

Cheers, Swubird and Jane.

And delighted you got that, Jane. Had been wondering about another composition that combined the realistic with the fantastic, when your comment popped up.