A boy and his mother
Acrylic on hardboard 24" x 24"
This started off as an industrial landscape - the view over some old factories from the top of Piccadilly station car park in Manchester. I knew I wanted to put a couple of figures in but this is how it turned out. The buildings are now just hints of red brick in the background. I'm ok with it though. First proper painting in weeks.
posted by Sheila Vaughan at 3:16 PM
12 Comments:
well this is a story--is that a bird on the shoulder? very thought provoking--and reminiscent of your earlier paintings with expanses of negative space and haunting figures--i really like the placement, gesture and how you have modeled the figure in the foreground...always so interesting to see how an artist's body of work evolves.
Thanks Jan, yes that is a bird on his shoulder and yes, I did realise that quite instinctively I had picked up on an approach that I have used before and been happy with. I'm glad you like it.
o.m.g.!!! wow-Sheila, this is awesome...another one of these 'mysterious, psychological dramas', very big complicated story presented here...the crossed-arms on the boy, the tired thoughts on the mom's face....You say so much here with just 2 figures!! breath-taking! (and if there was a movie...I'd be watching it!!) COOL!
A haunting painting. I love the color and the lost and found edges in this work, which give it an ephemeral quality. My reactions: The veils...psychological curtains drawn (quite literally) across past lives. An unnamed unease between mother and child...isolation. Are they even aware of each other in this painting? They might even exist in different time frames.
your paintings always leave me with the need to come back and look again... good to see you are back in the paint. i am also painting and the break has left me reflective and somewhere i've gone and raised the bar and the mental stakes are high:))
Roxanne, I seem to often come back to some aspect of narrative. Must be the frustrated writer in me! I think that is why I love working with figures. Thanks for your enthusiastic response. I really appreciate it.
Don, thanks so much for your useful and welcome words here. Yes, one of the things I am very interested in is the ultimate isolation of human beings - we constantly strive to understand each other but always there is that gap.
Rahina,yes, isn't that true. We take a (good) break and it all starts to look different. I think we come back often to the same themes but we leave some baggage along the way. But as you say when we "raise the bar" the mental stakes are high. That is a really good way of putting it.
Welcome back, Sheila! You're glad to be back in the paint, and we're also glad to have you back again, spinning your mysterious narratives. Like Rahina, I'm always drawn to look again.
Heehee, ditto what Roxanne said! Love the drama and want to know what the heck is going on there!! It's so great to see new work from you Sheila! Keep 'em coming. Also, would LOVE to hear more about your trip if you can work that in too... (:
Thanks Sam - good to hear from you.
Hi Diane! Mrs. Mystery, that's me. You make of it what you will I think. I didn't want to confuse this blog with too much Ethiopia stuff - maybe it needs another blog... oh heck...
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