Last Suppers and Tea Parties

Have been caught up in a number of projects recently, which have swallowed all my spare moments, it seems. Not quite clear yet, but getting there. Some have been enjoyably creative, some administrative and some domestic ... and then there's the work that pays to put bread on the table ... next to the wine and fish, of course. Escaped to Melbourne at the weekend to veg out, hang out and catch a couple of exhibitions devoted to Leonardo Da Vinci: Anatomy to Robots and Peter Greenaway's superb Leonardo's Last Supper. Also took the chance to visit The Horn, a wonderful Ethiopian restaurant in Collingwood. What a supper that was.


Either side of that, have been throwing a bit of acrylic paint at a canvas again. All in the name of charity.

Made a decision a few years back not to spend any more time painting, but to concentrate on writing instead; however, was asked recently to create a painting for a charity auction - for the local hospital - which will take place this weekend. (Resolutions are worth nothing if they can't be broken.) It became a family affair, with three of us swearing at easels, trying to meet the deadline.


Mine (Tea Party - Encroaching Shadows below) was influenced by Lewis Carroll's mad Hatter's tea party and Charles Blackman's Alice in Wonderland series of paintings, which I saw a couple of years back (see above). Also by the 'dark forest' as a motif in story-telling. There's a lot I'd have to learn about technique and ways of seeing before I ever got to be a half-decent painter, but I had a great time experimenting with perspective, light, shadows and brush strokes to create visual images rather than with words, rhythm and silences. All very therapeutic. Time to get back to the written word again now though ... once I've had a bite of supper.