Very much an underpainting still, so maybe a bit confusing to the viewer. I am a huge fan of the street artist known as Bambi (@therealbambistreetartist on Instagram) and she is also known as the female Banksy apparently. Her work featuring Princess Diana as Mary Poppins gave me the inspiration for this work. Her original is much smaller than as shown here, but I wanted to have the woman walking away with the pink umbrella to be of similar height and to bear a passing resemblance to Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. The two children stencilled on the wall are Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Further down the line, I will be adding in the words Diana said to Princes William and Harry when they were young : ‘You can be naughty as you want, just don’t get caught ‘. These will be in big red stencilled letters as per Bambi’s original work and should pull the painting together. I am deliberately painting ‘Kate’ walking past and away from Diana because life has to go on …… If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the next few weeks please sign up…
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‘The Eyes Have It’. Completed and available. 19/10/17
This piece is 60x 60cm, 24 x 24” and is oil on deep canvas. It will be for sale through Great White Art gallery (www.greatwhiteart.com). I saw this skull, or calaveras, as I am reliably informed by one of my Twitter followers, on a wall at The Tobacco Factory on North Street where I live. The Tobacco Factory is a theatre/cafe/bar/and a great supporter of local artists, and street art in particular. So when Upfest street art festival takes place on this street every year, the Tobacco Factory is a magnet for some of the best street artists from all over Europe. This particular street art is the work of Liz Clayton (@lizc_illustration) and I love the colours in it. I have simplified it slightly for my painting as I didn’t want it to completely overwhelm the composition, and have put a darker glaze over it to knock it back a bit for the same reason. I have painted the eyes looking askance at the girl to add a bit of humour, hence the title. They are not like that in the original. The girl is oblivious of the gorgeous street art behind her. She is much more interested…
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‘The Eyes Have It’. First week in progress. 05/10/17
I saw this wonderful street art by Liz Clayton (Instagram lizc_illustration) at The Tobacco Factory on North Street in Bristol where I live, and I felt a painting coming along in my head. Upfest is an urban paint festival that is held every year on said North Street. Street art artists and graffiti artists from all over the world descend on my street with their aerosol cans and create individual and magnificent art on every available blank wall or hoarding available. I feel it is a great shame that these works get painted over so quickly or abandoned. Street art by its nature is ephemeral. I decided I would like to preserve some of these works in my own paintings with my trademark woman in the foreground somewhere. I tag in the artist and ask for their blessing beforehand. With this piece, still in its early stages, I have changed the eyes to be looking slyly at the young woman just checking on her shoes, hence the title. I am looking forward to adding in all the detail of the skull without making it overpower the muted tones of the young woman. I may have to add a…
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