In 2006 I had my last exhibition to this day.
I had been experimenting with much bigger and much more colorful works, thinly painted pure colour onto white canvas background. I don’t remember why but I decided to go with a theme of Greek Gods, maybe I’d just read Kerry Greenwood’s Kassandra novel or something.
It took two years of painting to get this lot together.
The gallery was called ‘Artholes’ (yeah, I know, since changed!) and was in Gertrude St just north of Melbourne.
I had two weeks there I think, just after my birthday and this was just slightly before I think my redundancy came through. I’m confused on timing.
Sold – The minotaur
“Minotaur”. I played around with perspective a fair bit for thse works. I liked this one cause it’s the minotaur looking all smug that a new victim is arriving and just about to enter the labyrinth.
Perseus with the head of medusa
“Perseus and Medusa”. Perseus is sent on a quest to kill Medusa by the king. Really it’s a ploy to get rid of him so he can marry Perseus’ mother. Perseus does kill Medusa and brings her head home and when he sees the king is going to reneg on all the agreements, he pulls out the head, shows it to the king, who turns to stone. This is the action shot of the kin as he’s just turning to stone.
“Narcissus”. I think the stance is pretty akward on this one though I like bits of it. May benefit from a re-do at some point, I like this topic. Caravaggio did a particularly nice Narcissus. Wish I could paint like him!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_%28Caravaggio%29
“Pan”. Play those pipes, dude!
“Zeus and Hera”. Hera was naughty so Zeus, her husband, suspended her from a cloud and hung irons around her leg. I hear there are clubs out there for this stuff these days.
Sold – Nemesis
“Nemesis”. Always behind you, always creeping up with her sword. I love this painting, it sold and the person who bought it loved it too.
Leda and the Swan
“Leda and the Swan”. Not a great topic really, but often depicted in classics.
“Icarus needs friends”. Icarus has a big set of wings that needs feathers, so he’s befriending some lovely duckies. Poor duckies. They have no idea of their fate. Neither does Icarus, he’s ignoring the giant sun behind him and the little flying creatures that are getting a bit near to it.
“Fauns”. I don’t have a good photo of this without the flash on the paint. Liked this one too.
“The three fates”. I’m trying to remember the significance of the eye. Fate is blind, I think. I could look it up, but laziness has kicked in! Again, I don’t have a good photo of this painting.
Sold – Europa and the bull
“Europa and the Bull”. This was my first painting in the series, now I think of it. The handmaidens are the little bean like objects up in the top left and i made the little trees look like people in the top right.
“Cynene and the Lion”. Do you get maybe a theme here that I think red-heads are hot? 🙂 Gingers, Rangas, whatever, I love the look. I have fake red hair myself!
“Cyclops”. This is a bloke, btw. Mount Etna is erupting in the background, he’s been forging a sword in the depths of the mountain. And he’s come out for some water. He’s also a redhead. This is the picture I used on the invitation.
“Arachne”. Never make a bet with a god or she’ll turn you into a spider. Gods are sore losers. Arachne I like, but she’s been doing a bit of Testosterone injecting I think, check out those arms of hers!
“Diana”. This one got a look in in my last post too.
And finally my favorite:
Sold – Dryads
“Dryads”. Because they are frankly totally creepy while looking non creepy. If only i had a better photo of this one! Ah well.
There were more paintings in the exhibition. I sold a lot of them, i did well – though the profit I made for two years work was the equvilant of two week’s wages in IT. One does not paint to get rich, clearly, though one is hoping to in the future!!!
Some of these paintings I still have and are available to buy, however I cannot imagine myself exhibiting them again, I’m so different now in what I do and how I paint. Though this stuff is now the sort of thing I do in watercolour – brightly coloured figurative art with lots of movement and some sort of narrative. I’ve been keeping oils for landscapes and portraits lately. Not sure why. Just have.Hope you enjoyed.
