On a Wing and a Prayer

Minimum colours, maximum impact

I created On a Wing and a Prayer with just a small selection of colours. The main one being a new yellow metallic gold – it has a really interesting tone and shimmers in direct light. Naturally I am drawn to it – I’m a sucker for shiny things!

But that is only part of the story here; the balance and gravity in the painting belongs to the additon of black and white – two extreme colours that have fused to create the most mesmerising range of grey tones I think I have ever seen. It really does make you want to get out a magnifying glass and have a look around.

Bring in the copper

Added to this was a rich metallic copper which has also produced, purely as a side effect, a verdigris effect as the paint thinners (liberally applied I may add) has accelerated the ageing process of the copper pigment (yes, real copper see!). I could probably write a thesis about just that alone but I will spare you the physics lesson this time around…

This is a powerful combination of stuff, really it is. And yet with all that going on the painting feels remarkably composed and grown up. It never overpowers and always minds its manners and yet, at in the blink of an eye, it can change into this microcosm of intrigue and interest. It really is quite the magnificent thing.

I don’t use this combination of colours very often but I should do a lot more I think. I hadn’t realised quite how beautiful this was until I began to photograph it for the page here on the website. The more time I have spent with it the more I have grown to understand and appreciate its presence.