‘The arrow of time [to everything turn, turn turn’]
A painting should speak for itself, so hopefully it does
so you can stop reading now!
But if you are interested…..
After 6 weeks drawing/researching/painting etc, plus many many hours thinking [I do think painting is 70% mind and 30% hand].
Acrylic on canvas 60x30 inches [150x75cm]
I have kept a visual diary of progression on facebook on the album ‘the arrow of time’
Title based on a concept from physics, plus lyric from ‘turn turn turn’, written by pete seeger, based on ecclesiastes ‘for everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven’[written about 10th C BC] and majestically recorded by the Byrds in about 1965
The flow of time from left to right includes
the rising and noon sun and the evening moon and stars.
the passing seasons in the branches along the top
the passing stages of life in the figures
Influenced by
gauguin’s ‘final’ ‘where do we come from….etc’ on a similar theme [after which he set off to take his life with arsenic, but failed and lived 6 more years or so ]
matisse's ‘joy of life’; munch’s ‘freize of life’; my own ‘4 seasons’
The composition and figures are my own, after many sketches, rough drafts and abandoned ideas.
The headland on the left was from our holiday in roscoff, brittany
The winter tree on the right is based on a willow tree in tower college [mirror images] where I used to work
The courtship dance of the japanese cranes is based on a photo I found online [trying to contact the photographer]
The little girl on the left is throwing up a ball, which turns out to be the rising sun
The adolescent girl about to cross the bridge is from a winning japanese costume by my cousin’s daughter shelley
The easel and canvas implies the artist without showing him
The very old couple at the end are still full of spirit; he wears pink socks and shirt, and she has a pink flower in her hair, like every female in the painting
The naughty bird on the golden buddha and the naughty dog lifting its leg on the torii gate are not concerned about their spiritual significance.
Nor are the sun moon and stars really
