WELCOME TO MY GALLERY OF SURREALISM
Although
I paint a lot of animal portraits, my main interest is in my generally
larger works which I would describe as figurative surrealism.
The following examples may explain better what I mean.
While viewing the pictures please remember that they are scanned
images of original artwork, therefore a certain amount of detail
is lost.
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| THE
SOURCE - GENESIS
1 - THE
SPECTRE OF THE TRAIN - MOTHER
NATURE -
ENIGMATIC ELEMENTS OF DELFT - ODALISQUE
- UNTITLED -
ART
IMITATES LIFE - HOUSE
SPARROWS - MADONNA
OF THE BIRDS - ARCADIAN
DREAM - FACE
IN THE CLOUDS - THE
APOTHEOSIS OF SACRED GEOMETRY - THE
SPECTRE OF SEX APPEAL OF THE ASTRAL TABLE - THREE
LUMINARIES - NEW PERSPECTIVES - LIZA
- IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE - A MOVING
EXPERIENCE |
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| THE
SOURCE
Like all artists I draw inspiration
from numerous sources, also the works of other great masters.
Here I was influenced by works of two great artists, Salvador
Dali and Dominique Ingres.
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GENESIS 1
oil on canvas 20"x"24"
Courtesy of Ms J. Smith |
The
inspiration for this painting came initially from a song,
with the same title, by English singer/songwriter Ralph
McTell. As the title suggests, the inspiration is a Biblical
one. There are references to the Creation, to birth, life
and death and to the fragility of our world.
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THE SPECTRE OF THE TRAIN
(oil on canvas 16"x20")
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THE
SPECTRE OF THE TRAIN
This painting was inspired by an
old sepia photograph of the railway station that still stands
in the town where I live.
In the photograph, a young girl
stands waiting for the train and although I can't see her
face, I feel by her posture that she is very tense. I have
tried to increase this feeling of tension with the elongated
perspective, the impossible, repeated image in the train
windows and the isolation of the figure. The building's
crumbling remains and the "echoed" figure in the distance
all add to the feeling of menace.
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MOTHER NATURE
(oil on canvas 24"x28")
SOLD |
MOTHER
NATURE
This painting was inspired by a book
titled 'Earth Rites' by Janet and Colin Bord.
The figure represents
Mother Nature in a man-made desert landscape. Blindfolded,
she cannot witness the destruction of her work. The water,
basis of all life forms, flows from her. Bubbles represent
atoms and also symbolise fragility.
The standing stones represent male
and female figures. (The opening in the figure echoing the
female triangular stone) The stones also stand as a monument
to a time when mankind was more in tune with the Earth.
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ENIGMATIC ELEMENTS
OF DELFT
(oil on canvas 24"x16")
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ENIGMATIC
ELEMENTS OF DELFT
This painting contains elements
of several paintings by various Dutch artists. There are
elements of exteriors, interiors and still-life, brought
together to create one composite painting. I painted this
picture after a visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
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ODALISQUE
(oil on canvas 12"x10")
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ODALISQUE
Here I have based my painting
on another image, that of a figure in a painting by Ingres
titled 'Odalisque with slave'. As an art student
I spent many hours in the National Gallery and the Tate
Gallery in London, just staring in awe at works by great
masters. The images still remain with me today.
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UNTITLED
oil on board 13"x15"
SOLD |
UNTITLED
In the days before mass-production
printing techniques, artists would often do more than one
version of a painting. Dominique Ingres was no exception,
and several versions of 'La grande baigneuse' exist.
I painted a copy of one version in my last year at art college.
The image has appeared in my work in many forms since then.
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ART
IMITATES LIFE
(oil on canvas 24"x30")
Courtesy of Mr P. Ferguson |
ART
IMITATES LIFE
This is another painting that owes it's existence to the
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
After my first visit I came away with my head full of images,
and on returning home to England, I produced several works
combining influences of many different artists.
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HOUSE SPARROWS
(oil on canvas 12"x10")
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I was looking out of my studio window watching two house
sparrows flying back and forth to their nest, which was
situated above a window frame within a cavity wall. The
birds, being of similar colour to the bricks and flying
in and out so rapidly, appeared to me to be entering straight
into the wall itself.
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MADONNA OF THE BIRDS
(oil on canvas 16"x20")
Courtesy of Mr B Jackson
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MADONNA
OF THE BIRDS
Double imagery, that one image can suggest or evolve into
another, has always fascinated me. Here the repetitive
bird shape can be seen everywhere.
At the time I started work on this painting, which was
originally going to be a female figure study, I was reading
an article about Phidias,the ancient Greek sculptor responsible
for the Parthenon. Looking at pictures of some of the
figure sculptures led to this painting. TOP
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ARCADIAN
DREAM
(oil on canvas 16"x20")
Courtesy of Mr P. Ferguson
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ARCADIAN
DREAM
This painting was born out of two separate images.
The first: Driving home eastwards one summer morning,
just as the sun began to rise with a thick ground mist
making everything appear as though it was floating in
the clouds. The
second: Looking through some Greek island holiday brochures.
(Strange how the mind works!) TOP
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FACE IN THE CLOUDS
(oil on cavas 22"x18")
Private collection |
FACE
IN THE CLOUDS
By no means a new concept. Images can be conjured up from
many sources: stains on a wall; the flames in a fire;
daubs of paint smeared on a canvas.
What started out as a vague face in a cracked, painted
ceiling evolved into this painting. TOP
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THE
APOTHEOSIS OF
SACRED GEOMETRY
(oil on canvas 20"x24")
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THE
APOTHEOSIS OF SACRED GEOMETRY
All the objects in this work have a symbolic significance,
and there are many biblical references also. The best
place to find out more about this painting is in Kings
1. TOP
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THE SPECTRE OF SEX APPEAL
OF THE ASTRAL TABLE
(oil on canvas 18"x22")
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THE
SPECTRE OF SEX APPEAL OF THE ASTRAL TABLE
Looking through an old sketch book I found a drawing of
a reclining nude female figure that I'd done while at
my art school. Using it as a starting point, I re-worked
it with some symbolic still-life elements and arrived
at this painting. The small standing figure is taken from
a painting by Salvador Dali entitled The spectre of
sex appeal. TOP
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THREE
LUMINARIES
(oil on canvas 24"x20")
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THREE
LUMINARIES
The three luminaries in question in this instance are
Salvador Dali, Dominique Ingres and Vermeer. There are
several references to each of the artists, symbolic as
well as literal, in this painting. TOP
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NEW
PERSPECTIVES
(oil on canvas 30"x24")
Private collection |
NEW
PERSPECTIVES
This
painting has many view points and horizons. The doorways,
or portals, are symbolic of an open mind.
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LIZA
(oil on canvas 32"x28")
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LIZA
A
newspaper cutting with a picture of Liza Minnelli in "Cabaret"
had been stuck on a pin board in my studio for some time
before I decided to make something of it. I have always
been fascinated by her eyes.
I
made this painting larger than life and theatrical. The
curtains and smokey background suggest a club setting.
The stage is superimposed on the face as a a kind of veil
to focus all the attention on the eyes.
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IN
THE BLINK OF AN EYE
(oil on canvas 40"x32")
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IN
THE BLINK OF AN EYE
Continuing
the train of thought that started when I was putting together
the songs for my CD of the same name.
I
read in a book about the creation of the Universe that
stars are born in 'nurseries'. Baby stars hatch from EGG's
( Evaporating Gaseous Globules). In this painting I show
this happening in the blink of an eye. In the vastness
of the Universe, this is all the time it takes.
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A
MOVING EXPERIENCE
(oil on canvas 30"x24")
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A
MOVING EXPERIENCE
In
Amsterdam the houses are tall and narrow and all have
an arm of a hoist that juts out from the gable end. When
furniture or goods need to be taken inside they are hoisted
up and into the windows.
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| All
images © Richard Langridge |
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