Autumn works 2021

I continued painting works in both "The World Beyond" series of abstracted landscapes and "The Mechanical Paradise" of surreal figurative paintings.

Developing both techniques of using palette knives for the abstracts and the more traditional underpainting and glazing technique with brushes for the figurative works.

I found the introduction of the horizon line in the abstract landscapes helped to give the works more structure, allowing for reflections in the lower side of the horizon creating the illusion of watery reflections.

I remember, that this painting "Return to Gold Mountain" was very quick, maybe 3 or 4 days of work, again, sometimes the paint just flows and the effects magically appear.

The "sky" section in this work was mainly created using very large soft brushes, and the mountainous land masses, palette knives and a few brushes...

I also returned during this period to the "Mechanical Paradise" series, to complete both "Calliope" and "Forbidden Knowledge".

Calliope was another of the traditional Greek muses, and venerated as a goddess of epic poetry. The most difficult part of this painting was trying to get the effect of her expression.

At times she just looked a bit menacing, which was not the intention. She is meant to look as if she is just about to deliver some incredible tale. Her mechanical face, consists of what appear to be ancient musical instruments, as she was often depicted with a lyre, which in ancient Greece would have been the chosen instrument to accompany her fantastical stories...

She had two famous sons, both musicians, Orpheus and Linus.

You can read more about the original myth of Calliope here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calliope 

In "Forbidden Knowledge" the rider represents man with his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and power. The horse represents industry, innovation and science, while the riders skull, represents mans ultimate fate - death.

The horned and winged anthropomorphic creature represents nature, and sits between the pillars of the entrance of her kingdom. 

The whole work symbolises mans incessant desire to know everything pitted against nature, whose innermost secrets will always remain "forbidden".