TENDER GRAPES, a work in progress

Pictured above, from top: a new studio pinboard (carefully curated, as it holds a mere fraction of my huge postcard collection) and on the worktable, L-R: Tender Grapes, 2023, acrylic on canvas panel, 10 x 10 cm (study) and Tender Grapes, 2024, acrylic on canvas panel, 30.5 x 30.5 cm (work in progress).

Pictured below: a closer view of the works. For more about the study for Tender Grapes (a finished work in its own right, as are all the studies in this series), go HERE.

The face tattoo is based on the following detail from Autumn and Winter, c 1895-1900, an embroidered panel designed by May Morris. 

Both paintings will be included in Decorated Women, my solo exhibition at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, opening on December 4.

On small work

More thoughts on small work, as that’s what I’ve been making of late. 

There is a quote from poet/playwright/librettist/author/artist/filmmaker, the late, great Jean Cocteau, that I’ve never forgotten. In this instance, he was speaking of the ever-increasing size of cinema screens, but his words apply just as aptly here: “The next poem I write, I am going to get a big sheet of paper”. 

Pictured top: Tender Grapes, 2023, acrylic on canvas panel, 10 x 10 cm. 

The tattoo is based on a tiny detail from the embroidered panel Autumn and Winter, c 1895-1900, designed by May Morris. Elizabethan portrait miniatures, a particular passion of mine, were also a significant influence on this work, as they have been on several others in the series. 

Vine

Pictured top: Vine, 2023, linocut with Chine collé, 20 x 15 cm, edition: 40. From a series of relief prints celebrating the work of British Arts and Crafts designer and maker, May Morris.

In keeping with the present transitional season, the tattoo is based on a detail (pictured above) from her magnificent embroidered panel Autumn and Winter, 1895-1900 (pictured below). 

Photo credit for image 3: Andy Scott via Wikimedia Commons:

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:May_Morris_Embroidery,_Autumn_and_Winter.