A multi-coloured abstract with large shapes and bold colours
This is a painting packed full of intense colours, vibrant shapes and a powerful sense of movement.
200cm x 90cm (79″ x 34″)
This is a painting packed full of intense colours, vibrant shapes and a powerful sense of movement.
200cm x 90cm (79″ x 34″)
Sometimes it’s good to break with the traditions of painting flat on the floor on a flat sheet of canvas and go for one that’s already been stretched around the frame.
I rarely do this because, to a certain extent, it constrains you with what you can and can’t do with the paints.
However, that is also a good thing because it shapes the way you paint and means you have to be very mindful of the edges and give them respect. In turn that means the painting will be a bit different and Ultramaffic is no exception.
These two things are the backbones of my work and everything I do is formed from these. So in this painting I believe they are even more critical because I haven’t got that much space to work with as I would normally have.
So whatever I decided it was going to be was based on the size of the shapes and movements I could fit on and the combination of colours used to translate that in the most dramatic way possible.
The name Ultramaffic comes from a term used in the study of volcanoes but also relates to the composition of some igneous rocks. It can also relate to the type of lava flows in a volcanic eruption and the subsequent rock type that forms after cooling.
It therefore seemed rather fitting to use the terminology to for the painting as it very much feels like lava flows to me. Volcanoes fascinate me anyway so using cool names and terms is also a joyous experience!
I don’t use a lot of green in my paintings. It’s not a colour I have ever really been drawn too. But for this particular one I have used a rather wonderful turquoise/blue green that has really lifted the whole thing to level i am happy with.
It’s always a surprise to see what a single colour application can do for a painting and in this one it’s definitely the green that gives it the edge it needs. In addition there are also some mesmerizing twists and turns a thousand tiny details waiting to be discovered.