In the museum

Reaching back into the past, once again

In the autumn of 2016, I found myself in the Museum of Scotland, standing in front of this figure. For most visitors to the museum it was probably just a quiet, strange carving from another land. For me, it was hot temple flagstones under my feet in the baking sun, dark interiors and the smell of burning oil, torn bedsheets and whirring fans. I saw a garland of fresh marigolds draped around its neck.

Later, I started playing with its form, one of those rare times when everything seems easy and the end result is of no concern.

I started branching out to other figures that were around this one.

It was a magical series. There was no worry about how I was representing an original beauty that was so much more marvellous than anything I might be able to create, I was just responding.

The museum became my home for a while. I studied ibex heads and Pictish carvings, African doors.

Gargoyles from a visit to Totnes, November 2017

And all the time I was learning about paint. How to use acrylic to make translucent layers, how much colour was too much, or too little. Many of these paintings were done on brown kraft paper, which made them much more subtle than what I ended up showing online. Somehow the subtle shades didn’t seem to work on a backlit screen, so I heightened the contrast a little. They became something new on the screen. I loved their glow as much as I loved the original subtlety.

Happy image-maker.