Blowing in the Wind

(36" x 30") Original, Acrylic on Canvas
Contact Washington Green for Enquiries

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.