Making Paradise Exhibition

This painting is in the ‘Making Paradise’ exhibition opening on the 29th of April to the 30th of September at the Aga Khan Centre. Curated by Esen Kaya. Doors will be opening to the public on the 17th of May.
The exhibition is a group collaborative show that explores the concept of Eden through art and Islamic garden design. For the exhibition I was invited to paint trees that are mentioned in the Quran. Here I have painted the Pomegranate tree which is said to grow in the Garden of Paradise.

Please visit the Agha Khan centre’s website for more information.

https://www.agakhancentre.org.uk/the-aga-khan-centre/

London Art Fair 2019

The whale's back in the bay. Stopping off on his way to London.
But he's bigger this time, a lot bigger. I originally painted this 15 x30cm using miniature techniques. This new one is made with oil paint on linen and its 102 x152cm.
It has sold but will still be at the London art fair in the Crane Kalman stand. From the 16th to the 20th of January.


I went to uni in Falmouth. The natural harbour there is the second deepest in the world. I often wondered what lay beneath the surface.
I never actually saw a whale in the bay but apparently a few weeks after I painted the original a big hump back turned up there! So I've painted him again and we'll see what happens. ;) I did however see a lot of oil tankers and the occasional freight ship, they would sit in the bay for days waiting for oil prices to change. 
On the one hand freight containers provide a great excuse for a painter to get a good range of saturated colours out. 
In this painting it's also a symbol for commerce and everything man made that takes place on the horizontal worldly plane.
Unfortunately in reality large wild animals have been pushed to the fringes by the actions of man. I heard the other day that apparently only 2% of land mammals are wild, the rest is made up of us and livestock. This painting is an attempt (in the imaginative realm at least ) to readdress the balance and swing the proportions back the other way. It is a reminder that we are just one of 8.7 million other species on this planet we all call home. 
The whale is a symbol of mystery, one that may reveal its self if we take some time out from all the hullabaloo out there. Be still and go into the blue.

Whale.JPG
Source: https://www.londonartfair.co.uk/

Exhibiting at Buckingham Palace

I'm pleased to announce that this painting along with 8 others of mine are currently hung in Buckingham palace as part of the exhibition 'Prince and Patron'.   They are part of 100 works chosen by Prince Charles to mark his 70th birthday.

https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/prince-patron/buckingham-palace

The exhibition is open to the public and  will run from Saturday, 21 Jul 2018 - Sunday, 30 Sep 2018.

'Rub the Sleep from you Eyes'Oil on gold leaf gesso panel90x 87cm

'Rub the Sleep from you Eyes'

Oil on gold leaf gesso panel

90x 87cm

On this wall the golden head of a tiger formally belonging to Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Napolean Bonaparte’s cloak and two drawings by no other than Holbein! Pinch myself moment.

On this wall the golden head of a tiger formally belonging to Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Napolean Bonaparte’s cloak and two drawings by no other than Holbein! Pinch myself moment.

On this wall the famous ‘Tribuna of the Uffizi’ by JOHAN JOSEPH ZOFFANY, work by JACOPO BASSANO, GEORGES DE LA TOUR aand Jethro Buck’s ‘Night tree’ and ‘horse chestnut ‘ on the right. I’ll pinch myself again.

On this wall the famous ‘Tribuna of the Uffizi’ by JOHAN JOSEPH ZOFFANY, work by JACOPO BASSANO, GEORGES DE LA TOUR aand Jethro Buck’s ‘Night tree’ and ‘horse chestnut ‘ on the right. I’ll pinch myself again.

London Art Fair 2017

The London Art fair opens tomorrow and is on until January the 22nd.  'The Scots Pine' will be there!  In the Crane Kalman booth. For sale.  It is a portrait of a tree I know well on the outskirts of Wytham woods in Oxford.Lost&n…

The London Art fair opens tomorrow and is on until January the 22nd.  'The Scots Pine' will be there!  In the Crane Kalman booth. For sale.  It is a portrait of a tree I know well on the outskirts of Wytham woods in Oxford.

Lost  

A native American Elder was asked,

“What shall we do if we get lost?”

Stand still.  The trees before you and the bushes beside you are not lost.

Wherever you are is a place called here,

and you must treat it as a powerful stranger

both asking to know and be known.

Listen.  The forest whispers,

“I have made this place, you can leave and return once again

saying, here.”

No two trees are the same to Raven,

no two branches the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a branch does is lost on you,

you are truly lost.

Stand still.  Listen.

The forest knows where you are.

Let it find you.

 by David Wagoner