SOLITAIRE

This is a highly personal memoir of following my souls calling to a re-birth from the life I was leading, in return for a life of solitude. Is this simply what artists seek in order to ‘create’? I was renown in my past life (and not so long ago) for my highly successful graphic design business that was responsible for the inception of the most powerful wine brand in the world – [yellow tail]. I relinquished the business for the sake of my spiritual inner health, and my marriage and perfectly constructed life – for a more affordable existence that I had control over.

Through the process of painting, writing and the study of Carl Jung’s Archetypes I explored the existential questions that illuminated my universal concerns of the heart. I was lead on a journey of discovery by painting my soul’s desire and search for a meaningful life.

From the time we are born we are on a journey. Many of us do not have the luxury of determining which train we will catch, nor which station to either disembark temporarily,….or where to terminate. In fact many human beings don’t have a lot of choice. So if you have the advantage of ‘choice’ in your life, you are fortunate, and I am one of these people. To choose (or not) is akin to Shakespeare saying ‘to be, or not to be – that is the question’. Do we let life carry us along blindly following paths directed for us by our parents and even our own perceptions of a comfortable, but conformed life? We are not all the same, and I am not trying to advocate any sort of doctrine about ‘how to conduct a successful life’ or ‘manifest your dreams’. The book is quite simply a compilation of heart felt chronological short stories created over a 10-year period of my life, and I write in the hope of inspiring others by sharing my gift of art.

After all – it’s a game, right?

Available in full colour print format or digital Kindle – from Amazon, black and white print and digital colour from Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Smashwords, Baker & Taylor.

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My body of work – the heads of agreement!

 

studio2

Studio1

I believe that the environment we live in affects our ability to create. Therefore sometimes it is necessary to create the environment first. Well, this is what works for me, and is why it has taken five years to complete the environment for creativity to fully blossom. The environment I talk of is mostly exterior and therefore visual, however there is a flow through to the interior environment as a result of having a suitable space to work from. The renovations to the studio were in fact completed in 2015, but the renovation to my life was still a work in progress.

Last weekend I finally “hung” my body of work from the recently completed and final year of an Arts degree (Bachelor of Visual Art), onto the walls of my studio. Interestingly (as you can see) there are no body’s, and the portraits wear headgear reminiscent of a death mask.  I started with only two portraits and ended up doing five, and ironic that in the end they all fitted so perfectly onto this funny curved wall which is the main hanging space in the studio. It was as if I had somehow subconsciously painted these portraits to suit my studio; the middle one of me emerging from the dark, smack bang in the middle and the others facing inward, surrounding me in support.

Titled ‘The Immortal Soul’, this recently completed body of work explores my life experiences and spiritual beliefs. Through a combination of mythological, psychological and symbolic imagery, these paintings reflect facets of my persona. The sequence of five paintings is structured around the idea of personality archetypes as defined by Carl Jung and depicted through the language of surrealism. The masked aspect is symbolic of death. Through the executioners hood I reflect on my existential approach to life and how I have reinvented myself many times over. The hoods therefore speak of endings and new beginnings. All the portraits of the archetypes explore the concept that humans have two basic natures, the physical and the spiritual. They represent psychic intuition: the unseen inner life, which guides me in the physical world.

When I stood back and looked at my work, I was reminded of the quote by T.S Elliot, ” we shall not cease from exploring, and at the end of our exploring will be to arrive and know the place for the first time”. Even though I was born with this gift, I felt a sense accomplishment, I was amazed (that I could do this), and they made me feel worthy. These paintings define me right now, but in five-ten years better paintings will define me, and THAT is the power of self discovery through ART.

HAIL ART!……long may it live (after the resurrection)!