Blowing in the Wind

(36" x 30") Original, Acrylic on Canvas
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This grayscale painting is inspired by the 1961 film ‘Whistle Down The Wind’.

The plot of the film follows the lives of three Lancashire farm children who discover a fugitive hiding in their barn. The bearded man is mistaken for Jesus by the siblings, and he makes no attempt to correct the mistake once he realises that the eldest child is determined to protect him from the adults and police.

The film contrasts the children's innocent faith with the pragmatic and suspicious adults in the town. Word spreads amongst the children in the town, and remembering the story of Jesus’ persecution, all focus is on the barn and keeping it’s hiding occupant safe from discovery.

One of the children eventually gives the game away to her father by mistake after asking for some cake to give to Jesus. Ever the sceptic, particularly after ‘Jesus’ let him down, the youngest of the siblings, Charles, proudly denotes “It’s not Jesus, it’s just some fella”.

The fugitive is apprehended in a symbolic final scene.

My aim was to catch the essence of this film within the painting without focusing on the spiritual side of the story. For me, what makes the film endearing is how it portrays the commoraderie of the children and the innocence and optimism they hold within themselves.

In The Studio

I thought I would post an image of myself in the studio working on my latest piece.

There is a slight change with this new painting as it is going to be completely in grayscale, like an old black and white film. Primarily becuase the painting is based on a film made in 1961 and is indeed in black and white!!

I'm quite excited about completing this piece as I am very interested to know how it will look with no colour involved. The film is also one of my favourites so I am desperate to do it justice and try to get some of the feeling of the story just right in the painting.

Hi Scores

(36" x 30") Available at Chelmer Fine Art

You may have noticed the toys and games of the past have been long forgotten. They have mostly been replaced by home computers, games consoles and the internet. Using and even combining these machines gives kids a whole new world of gaming activity and social interaction, which has seen the good old fashioned toys get cast aside.

Despite computer games not having a particularly great reputation, they can in fact be very good for the child’s development with the use of strategy, reasoning, logic and memory. Pretty much any game out there will need the use of these skills, and they will be honed with kids feeling that they are having fun while achieving.

Kids are learning all manor of skills apt for a technological age….certainly more useful than a space hopper would ever be, that’s for sure! That said, with a computer game you can’t play 'Scramble' in the playground and fight for the football stickers that nobody else wants, or have endless battles on the bedroom floor with plastic army men!

Round Our Way

(36" x 30") Original, Acrylic on canvas

A half decent playing area, jumpers for goalposts….or perhaps a conveniently placed sign, and anything up to 25-a-side were all the essentials you needed for a good kick-a-bout with your pals and anyone else keen to join in.

Undoubtedly there would always be a couple of kids who would constantly have the ball due to their far superior skill level, while the rest of us would have to chase a few shadows, yet there was still a sense of camaraderie, each and every ’player’ getting stuck in for the cause, some more than most obviously!

As darkness approached, the numbers would slowly whittle down as tea time beckoned, leaving perhaps only a few of the hardcore, determined players eager to find a winner, which usually meant a unanimous decision of “The next goal wins!”