30 April 2009

North Country Boy - (L.S. Lowry)

"North Country Boy"


(30" x 30" Original, Acrylic on Canvas) Available at ScotlandArt

Laurence Stephen Lowry was born and raised in Stretford, Lancashire. He is famous for painting scenes of life in the industrial districts of northern England during the early 20th century, and is now regarded as one of England's greatest ever painters.

He had a distinctive style of painting and is best known for his urban/industrial landscapes populated with human figures often referred to as "matchstick men". Because of his use of these stylised figures and the lack of effects such as lighting and shadows in many of his landscapes, his work is sometimes characterised as 'naive'.

I have always had a great fondness for Lowry's work and have, on the odd occassion, had people comment on my own work as being very Lowry-esque. That's something that I can only take as a huge compliment!

In this piece, I wanted to create a Lowry type industrial landscape without giving it too much dominance in the painting itself. I hope by having it blending in faintly in the distance with minimal detail has helped achieve that.

27 April 2009

Camarillo Brillo - (Andy Warhol)

"Camarillo Brillo"

(30" x 30" Original, Acrylic on Canvas) SOLD

Andy Warhol was an American artist and a leading figure in the visual art movement known as Pop Art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer and author.

It was during the 1960s that Warhol began to make paintings of iconic American products such as the Campbell’s Soup Cans from the Campbell Soup Company, Coca-Cola bottles and Oversized Brillo Boxes, as well as paintings of iconic celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, amongst others.

It was thought his paintings of such items were designed to make a statement about mass-production and consumerism, however Warhol stated that the soup simply reminded him of his childhood. His Mother used to give him that soup for his dinner and it always evoked childhood memories.

Andy Warhol was a prominent figure in the art world throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's with his work and chosen subjects proving both popular and controversial!

24 April 2009

Sit and Wonder - (Vincent van Gogh)

"Sit and Wonder"

(30" x 30" Original, Acrylic on Canvas) Available at ScotlandArt

Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter from the late 19th Century. Despite struggling to make any hint of a career from his art during his short lifetime, some of his paintings, particularly 'Sunflowers', are now amongst the world's best known and most expensive works of art.

Chairs are often used in art as representational objects. Van Gogh painted 2 different versions of his close friend Gauguins chair. The two paintings are thought to have been intended to represent the vastly contrasting temperaments and interests of the two artists.

The fact that the boy sitting in this chair looks a little bit like Van Gogh, wasn't intentional! :)

I do wonder what he might be thinking about though?

22 April 2009

Up in the Sky - (Rene Magritte)

Here is the first from a collection of 4 paintings paying homage to 4 well known painters and 'remixing' their styles and themes in with my own recognisable work to hopefully create something new and interesting.

"Up In The Sky"

(30" x 30" Original, Acrylic on Canvas) Available at ScotlandArt

Rene Magritte was a Belgian Surrealist artist and became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images, including his floating bowler-hatted men and in particular the painting titled 'The Son of Man', where the face of a bowler hatted man is obscured by a hovering apple!

I hope you enjoy viewing these new pieces and there will be more to come shortly.....