Monday 17 December 2018

Sunburst Finish

Sunburst Finish (Acrylic on Canvas)

The Woodlands Gallery (about to enter its fifth year, and now located in Nottingham) has recently acquired two new paintings. Yep, the brushes came out for the first time in ages yesterday and here they both are.

Sunburst Finish, I think it's safe to say, owes very little to the 1976 Be-Bop Deluxe* album of the same name, but the colours and texture cried out Sun as I was working on it yesterday - despite the fading afternoon light on the canvas.

Wood Embers (Acrylic on Canvas)

Wood Embers on the other hand is, excuse the pun, something of a slow burner. I wasn't jazzed with it at all while I was painting it. It's only when it began to dry that the colours bled through. The title, meanwhile, came a little while later...

* Be-Bop Deluxe really did try and set the world alight, but always seemed to be punching above their weight. Being neither Glam nor Prog in the mid seventies, and with one eye on the impending new wave, they somehow got left behind in a world that loved the idea of a band like Be-Bop Deluxe, but didn't necessarily want to buy their records or foot their ladder as they tried to climb it. Shame, really, as Bill Nelson - Mr. Deluxe - knew how to write good songs. Like this:

Be-Bop Deluxe - Sleep That Burns (1976)

10 comments:

  1. Great to be so creative, John, I love the freedom of these, especially Sunburst Finish. There's a sneaky little face peeking out at me near centre top too. Hope all goes well at the gallery.

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    2. I spotted the face too! A man with dark glasses - Lennon? It/he wasn't planned, I do know that.

      The 'gallery' is just a euphemism for where I hang art in the house - when I moved up North I lived on Woodlands Park - that's where the name comes from!

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    3. Oops! Well in that case all will go very well at the Woodlands Gallery, especially with no sniffy curators and no fees!
      Ah, yes, John Lennon! He's there with you in spirit. I always think the best bits in art are the unplanned bits and the happy accidents.

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    4. We don't do 'sniffy' at the Woodlands! I like happy accidents; not just in art.

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  2. Accident, intentional, I don't know, but this is a beautiful addition to the Woodlands. Don't tell the artist, but I have my eye on that Polydor piece. Working on my plan for a needlessly complicated heist right now.

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  3. Brian - I'm guessing you haven't the time or inclination to plan a heist. Would you like me to paint you a Polydor in the New Year?

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  4. I love these John, Sunburst especially. I need to start painting again. Time and space always seem to act against me.

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