I guess it doesn’t matter what you celebrate in life as long as you can celebrate something.
We often associate joy with happy, bright colours so I guess that’s why balloons are usually so bright and cheery. It’s with this principal in mind that I painted Graduation Day.
In part I was also influenced by a piece of music by guitar supremo Jan Cyrka of the same name. It gives me feelings of upward progression and of having a get together for some specific reason. It was also partly inspired by one particular shade of blue I have been experimenting with for a while.
But all this came about because I needed a subject to paint for a live demonstration at an event held at the public art gallery in Cheltenham (UK). I’ve written a page about the evening where you can read more about what happened and see the painting being created. Well worth a read (there”s plenty of pictures too).
The combination of colours and the way I’ve moved the paints around the surface is probably going to be an acquired taste – perhaps even more so if you’re trying to fit this into a room somewhere.
But this is where a painting like this really wins – in its ability to command a space without regard for what goes on around it. It doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a riotous celebration of shape and colour.
And whilst it may have roots in expressionism and a disregard for any defined technique it still carries balance, structure and form despite it’s apparent randomness.
I like the red and pink in this painting too. It sits in such a stark contrast to the boldness of the blues and yellows. I’ve had this hanging in the gallery for a week or two and it certainly adds a big smack of life into one of the dark corners. Fabulous and barking mad.