Life sized Ophelia

My Ophelia will be on show in Peterborough Cathedral Square PAOS pre-Exhibition today 4 June 2016. A labour of love but well worth it in the end, and there will be more like her eventually……This piece is structured to hang on a wall, as a picture would, or can be displayed flat, reminiscent of the original Millais painting.

Life sized Ophelia: 'A splendid Ancient Dress'
£1,250

Ophelia Exhibition: PAOS in Cathedral Square 4 June 2016

Finally, my piece is finished and resined and the Exhibition gets a kick start in Peterborough's Cathedral Square, as part of the larger PAOS pre-exhibition. Several of the Ophelia project pieces will be on view, so it's a sneak peak of the larger group of stunning works by 26 artists…..

Detail of the bust area of the dress

OPHELIA: A SPLENDID...ANCIENT DRESS

I took my inspiration from a quote from J.E.Millais, describing the dress he used in his painting 'Ophelia'.

  Millais wrote to Thomas Combe in March 1852: 'Today I have purchased a really splendid lady's ancient dress - all flowered over in silver embroidery - and I am going to paint it for "Ophelia". You may imagine it is something rather good when I tell you it cost me, old and dirty as it is, four pounds' (J.G. Millais I, p.162).

So, with the image of 'a really splendid lady's ancient dress' in mind I set to work in January of this year to create a life sized 'splendid dress'; not dirty in the least, but strewn with many of the blossoms from Shakespeare's account of his doomed heroine's flowery demise. The main structural component of the dress is my own handmade paper, painted in oils and enamels, with the addition of about 50 hand painted flowers, also constructed from my hand made paper, which are painted in waterbased paint and then resined and attached to the body of the dress. The complete work was then resined. Only after finishing it did I realise there was not even a hint of the tragic about my 'dress'. It's just a creation typifying what I always strive for : beauty, intense attention to detail and the enjoyment of stretching the boundaries of my technical skills to achieve a work that responsive to a well loved theme but stands alone, intrinsically, as an totally new creation. 

Ophelia Project: PAOS

I am not hosting my own individual PAOS (Peterborough Artist's Open Studios) exhibition this year, but am joining 30 other artists as part of the Art in the Heart Gallery's Summer Exhibition show 'Ophelia : Pure Inspiration'.

I took my inspiration from a quote from J. Millais, whose painting 'Ophelia' we are basing our works on.  Millais wrote to Thomas Combe in March 1852: 'Today I have purchased a really splendid lady's ancient dress - all flowered over in silver embroidery - and I am going to paint it for "Ophelia". You may imagine it is something rather good when I tell you it cost me, old and dirty as it is, four pounds' (J.G. Millais I, p.162).

So, with the image of 'a really splendid lady's ancient dress' in mind I set to work in January of this year to create a life sized 'splendid dress'; not dirty in the least, but strewn with many of the blossoms from Shakespeare's account of his doomed heroine's flowery demise. Only after finishing it did I realise there was not even a hint of the tragic about my 'dress', it's just a creation typifying what I always strive for: beauty, intense attention to detail and the enjoyment of stretching my technical skills to achieve something completely new. I hope you enjoy the exhibition!

Another section of the life sized piece…...

Ophelia Project

A section of my newest piece, created for the Art in the Heart Summer Exhibition for PAOS. The exhibition is on from 25 June to 3 July 2016.

Add caption

Ophelia cont....

Ophelia

I will be revealing a small section each week of my current life sized art work, commissioned by Art in the Heart Gallery, and inspired by J.E. Millais' painting of Shakespeare's doomed heroine 'Ophelia'. This piece will be on exhibition as part of PAOS in June 2016. 

Sketches in Peterborough Cathedral: View from the Cloister, Archway and West Door

A lovely lunchtime drawing session with Lynne Collins, soaking up some rays in the Cloister area and challenging myself with a pen drawing (and some useful Tippex!) Rotring and Pilot pens are my current favourite. A4 Moleskin journal paper gives a really smooth surface and warm cream undertone to any drawing. Strangely enough, architecture is not my favourite subject matter for drawing, the attraction was the carving of the door frames. There are several doors that can be viewed from the Cloister, so that's a draw for another day...

View of Archway and Cathedral side door
from Cloisters