Dali’s Trees
gouache & ink on canvas board
While I was in art school a tutor of mine had a book called ‘The Essential Dali.’ This was when my appreciation for Dali and Surrealism began. The book had pictures from the beginning of his career through to the end with descriptions of the meanings of his works or the stories behind them. I was particularly impressed by some early surrealist experimental pieces which I attempted here and in Surrealist Mountain.
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Surrealist Mountain
gouache & ink on watercolour paper
An impression of Mount Taranaki
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Stolen
oil on canvas
I painted this piece after reading an article on children who are stolen from their parents and sold into slavery. The beach in the background is of the Slave Coast in Western Africa. The beads represent a snapshot in the child’s memory of their mother. As I was finishing the painting I realized I had forgotten to paint the mouth in, I decided to leave this as the booklet I read the article in was titled ‘Voice for the Voiceless.’ Interestingly this painting slipped out of my possession and I no longer have it, my hope is it will show up someday.
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Mary & Jesus
oil & gold leaf on board
This was a Christmas present for my husband, Mitchel. I decided to paint it for him after our trip together through Greece and Turkey where we saw a lot of icons of Mary and Jesus. The icons we saw seemed dull, unhappy and intangible; which
is not the Jesus we know. I wanted to paint an icon that showed the humanity of the moment, a mother gazing tenderly at her newborn baby. Jesus is the Son of God but he loved us to the point that He put aside that power to enter the world as a helpless baby.
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