Alexander sketching the Launch of Britannia
This has been an extraordinary privilege and incredible challenge. Read more about Alexander’s work and the Team here: INEOS TEAM UK
A wonderful validation of Alexander’s work…
Sir Stephen Lamport GCVO DL speaking at Alexander’s most recent exhibition…
“Easter Week could not be a better moment to begin an exhibition of Alexander Creswell’s watercolours entitled ‘Journeys in the Holy Land’. But Jerusalem is not an easy option for an artist because this city, so fundamental to the origins of Christianity, is equally a uniquely holy place to both Jews and Moslems. So capturing its essence is complex, even for the best of artists. Yet this is just what Alex does in these paintings. They show vividly his extraordinary sensitivity not just to the power of texture, colour and light, but more subtlely to the numinous and prayerful meaning of sacred buildings and places of faith, and the creative artistry of civilised peoples. These paintings are beautiful, and they are special.
This is, of course, no surprise. Anyone who had the rare pleasure of seeing Alex’s thirty-two watercolours of the interior of Westminster Abbey, hung in the Abbey’s Chapter House last spring, will have seen for themselves the hauntingly wonderful way in which Alex understands and responds to the inner beauty of powerful sacred spaces. And in Westminster Abbey he has created a unique record of the church which the Abbey has acquired in its entirety for the benefit of future generations. It is Alex’s ability to see into, and give back to us, this understanding of the wonder and beauty of the created world, which makes his paintings so incomparable.
This extraordinary skill is not limited to the obviously sacred. It reflects a quality best described as a passionately felt spiritual depth, which Alex gives to all the subjects he paints. His painting reflects a joy and celebration of the lasting beauty of the world around us. You will find that equally in his paintings of Petra and Little Petra. These are not just works of great skill and beauty in themselves, for these paintings do more: they capture the essence and power of wonderful landscapes in a way which conveys something important about their inner and permanent beauty. Architecture two thousand years old and more has, of course, largely decayed or been destroyed beyond recognition from its original glory. Through his eye and through his images Alex is able to give us a captivating and powerful sense of the lasting beauty of these buildings, and of the expression they continue to give of the extraordinary creative talent of past civilisations, whose achievements and whose deep understanding of the world around them we should never underestimate.
Sir Stephen Lamport GCVO DO 27th April 2019
Journeys in the Holy Land at Watts Contemporary until 9th June, open Daily 10-5pm – All Paintings are For Sale
Please visit the exhibition Get Directions to Watts Gallery
Journeys in the Holy Land – Watts Contemporary Gallery 27 April – 9 June 2019
After the grandeur and precision of my series of paintings in Westminster Abbey exhibited there in 2018, I wanted to focus on subjects of equal magnificence but with a less formal approach, and a return to the Holy Land seemed a natural progression. It is a privilege to be showing some paintings from my journeys at Watts Contemporary.
These journeys began in Jerusalem, exploring the hectic streets, the intricacies of gateways, fountains, the grandeur of mosques, churches & temples, from the Western Wall to the Holy Sepulchre and on to the Dome of the Rock. Jerusalem is several cities in one, each jostling for space, unified by faith and divided by dogma. While the city has a humble beauty, its stones resonate a spirit of exceptional complexity manifest over several millennia by the intensity of the beliefs and hopes of inhabitants and pilgrims alike. I worked on hasty sketches in the crowded streets & spaces, with broad splashes in watercolour and little time for details as I attempted to capture something of the power and peace of the place.
From Jerusalem to Petra was a journey back in time, through Bethlehem and the secluded cliffhanging monasteries in the high plateau of Judea into the Dead Sea valley, onward up to the Kings Highway to the rocky badlands above Petra.
In Petra I found the very antithesis of Westminster Abbey. I embarked on a series of fresh, almost abstract sketches – colour, texture, dust and light, far from meticulous architectural detail. Harsh sunlight and mineral colours combine to make patterns of imagination. Against the uniformity of rock, the variations of texture and form are animated by changing light, shade and angle, providing a kaleidoscope of colours and surfaces which are a joy to the painter’s eye, often with the same static subject radically morphing from one moment to the next.
In Petra the voice of abandonment murmurs in the remnants of carved rocks. The eye is constantly caught by the hint of a carved figure, or the ghost of hewn steps which once had led to somewhere important. My inspiration grew out of a sense that the battle between the manmade and the natural had been reversed. Man had brought out the forms from the living rock, in the same way that Michelangelo had drawn his sculptures out of stone, liberating monumental figures from stone. Here too in Petra the fine carved facades seemed drawn out of the rock, and eroded for centuries, as if reverting to their original form, the works of man crumbling beneath the forces of nature. Was order emerging from the chaos of nature’s forms, or was it being eroded and ingested by time? The question was captivating. I have been bewitched by this dichotomy throughout my work, from derelict stately homes, burnt-out castles, classical ruins and war-ravaged cities.
It all signifies that nothing is permanent, except perhaps the records of it all in art, literature and music.
Alexander Creswell 2019
Journeys in The Holy Land
After the grandeur and precision of my series of paintings in Westminster Abbey exhibited there in 2018, I wanted to focus on subjects of equal magnificence but with a less formal approach, and a return to the Holy Land seemed a natural progression. It is a privilege to be showing some paintings from my journeys at Watts Contemporary.
These journeys began in Jerusalem, exploring the hectic streets, the intricacies of gateways, fountains, the grandeur of mosques, churches & temples, from the Western Wall to the Holy Sepulchre and on to the Dome of the Rock. Jerusalem is several cities in one, each jostling for space, unified by faith and divided by dogma. While the city has a humble beauty, its stones resonate a spirit of exceptional complexity manifest over several millennia by the intensity of the beliefs and hopes of inhabitants and pilgrims alike. I worked on hasty sketches in the crowded streets & spaces, with broad splashes in watercolour and little time for details as I attempted to capture something of the power and peace of the place.
From Jerusalem to Petra was a journey back in time, through Bethlehem and the secluded cliffhanging monasteries in the high plateau of Judea into the Dead Sea valley, onward up to the Kings Highway to the rocky badlands above Petra.
In Petra I found the very antithesis of Westminster Abbey. I embarked on a series of fresh, almost abstract sketches – colour, texture, dust and light, far from meticulous architectural detail. Harsh sunlight and mineral colours combine to make patterns of imagination. Against the uniformity of rock, the variations of texture and form are animated by changing light, shade and angle, providing a kaleidoscope of colours and surfaces which are a joy to the painter’s eye, often with the same static subject radically morphing from one moment to the next.
In Petra the voice of abandonment murmurs in the remnants of carved rocks. The eye is constantly caught by the hint of a carved figure, or the ghost of hewn steps which once had led to somewhere important. My inspiration grew out of a sense that the battle between the manmade and the natural had been reversed. Man had brought out the forms from the living rock, in the same way that Michelangelo had drawn his sculptures out of stone, liberating monumental figures from stone. Here too in Petra the fine carved facades
seemed drawn out of the rock, and eroded for centuries, as if reverting to their original form, the works of man crumbling beneath the forces of nature. Was order emerging from the chaos of nature’s forms, or was it being eroded and ingested by time? The question was captivating. I have been bewitched by this dichotomy throughout my work, from derelict stately homes, burnt-out castles, classical ruins and war-ravaged cities.
It all signifies that nothing is permanent, except perhaps the records of it all in art, literature and music.
Alexander Creswell February 2019
The exhibition Journeys in the Holy Land: From a Rock to a Hard Place is open at the Watts Contemporary Gallery from 27th April – 9th June 2019
His accompanying talk The Architecture of Faith is on Wednesday 15th May 2019. Tickets can be booked here.
Glimpses of Eternity: The Chapter House Westminster Abbey
‘Glimpses of Eternity’ – an exhibition of paintings of the Abbey and precincts by watercolour artist Alexander Creswell, held in the Chapter House, March – May 2018. A private view was held on 16 March 2018. Picture: Ian Stratton, Picture Partnership
Glimpses of Eternity – Watercolours of Westminster Abbey Exhibition
The Chapter House, Westminster Abbey
Until 16th May 2018
“…for the first time in the Abbey’s history of more than a thousand years, we have a fine watercolour record of the church in its beauty and complexity.”
So writes the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall in his introduction to the catalogue of my exhibition now showing in Westminster Abbey. As I looked around the display in the evening light, just minutes before the opening ceremony with the works all finished, installed and lit in this magnificent setting, the achievement of the collection began to dawn on me. I had never seen all these paintings together before, a broad display of complex watercolours inspired by a monumental subject. The exhibition is on until 16th May and I am thrilled that all these paintings have been acquired by the Abbey Collection and will therefore remain as a record of the Abbey in history.
Please visit the show and take time to discover the Abbey. The exhibition is in the Chapter House (above), originally the 13th century meeting hall of the Benedictine order and later the seat of the King’s Great Council and the Commons, the foundation of England’s first parliament. Today the vaulted ceiling, which is supported on a single slender column, hovers far above with sunlight streaming in through the heraldic stained glass.
My display of watercolours is humbled in this majestic context, but the subjects depicted are able to stand up for themselves. The paintings offer a visual tour of the entire Abbey, beginning with the marriage service of the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge at one end and the sunlit Chapter House at the other. Around the central column, display cabinets show a selection of sketches and drawings which explain a little about my working methods. The exhibition leads around the Abbey, starting at the cloister door to the Nave, then along the north aisle eastwards to Statesmen’s Corner, into the intricate Henry VII Lady Chapel. The route then follows the south ambulatory to Poet’s Corner and into the Quire and Nave beyond, much as the visitor to the Abbey might process. At every point a new vista or intimate detail surprises the viewer, rays of sunlight find their way into the shadows to pick out a delicate carving or a noble inscription. Perhaps a long perspective reveals itself and draws the eye into the farthest distance, or a doorway close by opens into a silent chapel.
The paintings were done over a six year period during which I was given the great privilege of free access to the Abbey and precincts, to come and go as the light and weather suited me. I even spent an entire night in the Abbey – an extraordinary experience knowing that over 3000 people are buried or commemorated within, a number to be joined this year by Professor Stephen Hawking.
Early in my exploration at the Abbey I was daunted by the size, scale & complexity of the place, and early one morning I ventured into the Henry VII Chapel alone. A vivid sunlight electrified the space, the banners of the Knights of the Order of Bath were a kaleidoscope of colour, the intricate fan-vault a crescendo of geometric harmonies and the floor was a shimmer of shining reflections. I was the only person there to witness it and I was thrilled. I immediately embarked on a series of drawings and vibrant colour notes, done sitting on the floor. Together these sketches interpreted the power and the glory of the place, its fragility and the perfection of it. I believed then that I had found a way in. From that day on, I would try to work in the Abbey out of hours and on Sundays when the place regained its serenity.
I continued in the Henry VII Chapel before turning to the South Ambulatory and Poets Corner, all enlivened by morning sun. Details and wider views spoke to me in shafts of sunlight: God and nature revealing momentary treasures, all gifts gathered into a sketchbook and smuggled out under my arm!
In the light of summer the greater spaces reverberate bright sunlight and the air is shot through with rays of optimism. I aspire to float in space, to soar like a bird, high above it all. Great architecture, art and music enable me to do just that. In my early days I chose to paint the safer subjects – the tranquility of the Cloister, sheltering doorways and quiet corners. These gave me the strength to take on the sublimity of the place, and in so doing perhaps better to understand the glory of God.
These paintings of Westminster Abbey do not aim to chronicle exactitude. They might not need labels to identify them. A painting should be enjoyed freely as a glimpse of the spirit of the place which the artist had experienced. At first glance my paintings take architecture as their subject. Then they distort it and convert it into a barely-seen theatre of light, which might be exaggerated or even invented. Contrivance of light can be based on truth but is used to describe my sense of the place – the ‘genius loci’. A successful painting relies on a momentary light to illuminate and to give life to the subjects, subjects which are themselves all illusions drawn on paper.
Westminster Abbey is extraordinarily complex – a place of worship, theatre of state, resting place of kings and nobles, of statesmen and poets – a memorial to the great and the good. I found that I could best understand the Abbey when it is silent and empty. Alone, every footfall echoes in the stony darkness, the air is filled with whispered prayers and hopes, and with silent colours contrived by eager eyes. Isolated from lights, noise and society, our imagination is free to contradict the known, to seek out the unexplainable, to observe the invisible and to feel the uncomfortable. We can absorb the spirit of the place, the presence of God, the power to free us from those constraints with which we bind ourselves.
The Abbey has guided my own response to the monuments and places which commemorate human achievements so powerfully. Over my time working in the Abbey it has become a constant in my life, a ground anchor in the ebb and flow of fortune and the vagaries of exertion and contentment. I am delighted that I have had the privilege of freely undertaking this collection. I have been humbled by the gravitas of tradition safeguarded within the Abbey. I am thrilled to have seen and experienced parts of the Abbey which are accessible only to a few. I am extremely privileged to have witnessed great events of church and state, and to have been nourished by beauty elaborated by the hands of generations of artists and craftsmen to adorn this extraordinary edifice.
Alexander Creswell April 2018
The Chapter House is open to visitors free. Entrance is from Deans Yard Cloister Gate:
Monday – Friday 10.00 – 16.30
Saturday 10.00 – 14.00
Sunday Closed
For complete up to date information please visit:
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/opening-times
New Exhibition: Glimpses of Eternity at Westminster Abbey, 17th March – 16th May 2018
I am immensely honoured to have had the opportunity to create a collection of watercolours of Westminster Abbey. The Abbey is far more complex than I had ever imagined. It is a place of worship, theatre of state, resting place of kings and nobles, of statesmen and poets, memorial to the great and repository of excellence. The prerogative of establishment is to safeguard history and Westminster Abbey stands as the central shrine of England’s provenance.
I am proud of the collection and humbled that these paintings and sketches are to be exhibited among the riches of the Abbey.
AC February 2018
‘GLIMPSES OF ETERNITY’ is an exceptional exhibition of 35 paintings (plus their sketches) created by Alexander Creswell during his residency at Westminster Abbey 2011-2017 and to be shown in The Chapter House at the Abbey. This is the first collection and exhibition of paintings of Westminster Abbey to be made since it’s foundation. The entire collection was acquired by The Dean & Chapter of Westminster Abbey in 2018.
For further details on visiting the exhibition click on the link to: Westminster Abbey 17th March – 16th May 2018 Open Monday -Friday 10:00-16:30 Saturday 10:00-14:00 Sunday CLOSED
Easter Opening Times Friday 30th March CLOSED Saturday 31st March 10:-14:00 Sunday 1st April CLOSED Monday 2nd April 10:00-16:30
Painting of the Year 2014 – New Horizons: A Ceiling Painting
After what has been a progressively uncomfortable year, I have both pleasure and relief in revealing a painting which has been the product of much thought, deliberation and soul-searching in the quest for a meaningful direction for my future: I take pleasure because the painting is almost finished, and relief because it seems to have been successful, at least as far as I had intended it to be.
A year ago I had an interesting discussion with a collector in New York who lamented his lack of wall space as hinderance to enlarging his erudite collection. Perhaps cheekily I had suggested that he had unadorned ceilings which could be employed to display works of art in the eighteenth century manner, in keeping with his collection of European paintings of the period. The resulting conversation concluded with a commission for me to undertake such a painting, in watercolour and on a significant scale. This would be a first, both for watercolour and for contemporary art. It would be new ground for me: I relished the idea and rushed off to Italy to consult the masters of the settecento.
In the first instance this picture – now almost completed – represents a new horizon for me, perversely for the simple reason that it has no horizon. Being a view upwards though an imaginary roof to an infinite sky, it has a perspective which relies on the third dimension of the vertical, a perspective cut free from the merely terrestrial. Secondly this view has no subject as such, no representation of reality other than the sky and sunlight above an invented architecture which departs from the observance of reality. Thirdly, and importantly for me, this view is not factually representational but borrowed in part from history, then adapted and invented. Fictitious in this architectural tableau is the population of what appear to be ghosts whose only function is to represent those tenets and disciplines of life which we, the viewers, might have taken for granted: faith, toil, sagacity and fecundity – in common parlance: confidence, hard work, knowledge and productivity.
But what is the purpose of this painting, I hear the muttered question tinged with cynicism? Well, I’ve been loyal to the representational for most of my painting life, faithful to place and light, to truth and to the actuality of the subject. Occasionally however the truth is awkward or uncomfortable. During my career I have painted beauty, elegance and grace in architecture. I have also painted fate as manifest in the destruction and neglect of ruins. Sometimes the inspiration comes from unlikely quarters: over the past year my path ahead has been at times tangled and obstructed, calling for diversion and courage, flavoured with sadness and reflection – a landscape of Dante as I am reminded. With encouragement I found the leap from the familiar to the unknown in this work to be daunting and yet inspirational. It required courage in the confrontation of possible – or probable – failure. Rather like leaping from a runaway train, escape was the principal motivation behind this painting.
Although not quite finished, today we installed this painting in the ceiling of my studio, in a proper place to test its efficacity before the final details are elaborated in preparation for its dispatch.
Some remarkable things revealed themselves: floating overhead the picture morphed into a completely fresh image, unencumbered by accuracy and correctness. Let me explain: we are accustomed to the terrestrial world with a horizon, we gape up at skyscrapers in Manhattan or peer down into the Grand Canyon, but from the safety of our horizon-based world – terra-firma. Everything is related to the horizon, our level, our balance. We might look out of the window of an aircraft at 35,000 feet but always with the horizon to give us a fixed point: remove that horizon and we suffer from vertigo, dizziness and disorientation. Looking up at a ceiling painting we can feel the ability to fly into it and soar like a bird, freely but with our feet still firmly on the ground.
Given freedom from our earthbound horizons we loosen our reliance on accuracy and on truth. We can twist and turn to look at this view from varying angles without questioning, simply enjoying the gift of flight, at least momentarily. We are looking at a picture which is not a view in the conventional sense, more of a virtual reality which we can enjoy without cynicism, not requiring the affirmation of being ‘correct’. As a representational painter I find this departure very exciting.
So what of this image on the ceiling? At worst it’ll be a talking point, a curiosity: maybe it’ll challenge the condemnation of representational art as somehow shallow and passé. Maybe it’ll start a trend. I would hope it might encourage other enlightened patrons to ask me to do more, far larger ceilings to be installed in places where they can be seen by the world.
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Under the archway furthest from the sun in the painting, a cartouche bears the following inscription:
“Beviamo profondamente dal pozzo della tradizione e nutriremo l’arte del futuro”
(tr. “We drink from the well of tradition to nourish the art of tomorrow”)
The sentiment is entirely mine and the observant viewer may recognise a veiled reference to Andrea Pozzo whose huge fresco ‘The Apotheosis of S Ignazio’ adorns the nave vault of a church close by the Pantheon in Rome, which provided me with the inspiration and model for this painting, together with the courage even to imagine that I could actually achieve it.
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I would be delighted if you forward this to anyone who would value the message or who might simply enjoy the painting.
With best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and many thanks to those who have encouraged me through a difficult year.
Alexander Creswell, Christmas 2014
IMAGES on a Grand Scale
The Ruined Facade of San Sebastiano, Ferla, Sicily
Watercolour on Paper 84″ x 46″ – 214cm x 117cm
I am very pleased to have created an installation of the greatest milestones of my career – watercolours on a Grand Scale – in the huge showroom at Summers Place. The installation can be seen over the weekend of the 17th-19th May at Summers Place Auctions, Billingshurst, West Sussex, UK alongside the viewing for Summer Place Auction of Sculpture and Design.
Some of these works were exhibited & sold in New York, others were commissioned privately by enlightened patrons and have never been seen publicly before. Some may be familiar to you as previous Paintings of the Month. To make this show possible I have pioneered a method of creating facsimiles of these paintings on thick watercolour paper, life-size images which are being displayed exactly as they would appear in the studio, naked and frameless, powerful subjects suspended in space. They make a startling collection.
As the centrepiece of the show there is one special original watercolour depicting the facade of a crumbling church in Sicily. This large piece—without doubt one of my most successful—was sold to Ireland in 2007 and I never saw it again. Until last week when it became part of my collection once again. I’ve missed it and I’m proud to be able to show it oncemore.
Those that know Sicily will be familiar with its wonderful architecture, but few will know the charming facade of San Sebastiano in Ferla.
A little village hidden in the hills behind Siracusa, Ferla doesn’t even get a mention in most guide books. It has no less than four notable churches – modest, diminutive and charming. All carried the scars of earthquake and neglect, two have been restored but the largest—San Sebastiano—is boarded up, cracked and abandoned. It became my favourite subject, my friend, and I revisit it each time I return to Sicily. I am always apprehensive in my approach lest one day it will be gone, crumbled away in the hot sun.
I have painted here several times, always in late morning as the early sun moves off the eastern facade, the shadows lengthening, animating the details. St Sebastian himself poses in a languid ecstasy in his niche with the last of the sun tickling his torso. He is flanked by female guardians and the contorted forms of Moorish slaves who are supporting giant volutes. The door itself is surmounted by a lavish noble eagle—subsequently decapitated by fate—representing, no doubt, the patron who enabled this lavish and surprisingly refined facade. In the frieze putti are seen dragging cornucopias of fruit behind them, while above the columns the masks of two angels are shown kissing. Such was the appeal of Heaven in this harsh and unpredictable landscape! The whole ensemble is charming and unexpected in this remote spot. I return day after day at the same time to see the light recede, to sit in the small square in front of the church drawing the details, my pencil caressing the forms and the sunlight nourishing the soul.
The church is boarded up, its interior is unsafe. I have never seen inside, but in my mind and on paper I have forced open the doors and depicted an interior of my own making: a heavy curtain is drawn aside to reveal a scene of gentle dilapidation, a Mannerist style of architecture of my own design, from a period earlier than the facade might suggest. In this space I have imagined broken pews, baulks of fallen timber and traces of gilding on the altar, all lit by fingers of sunlight piercing the broken roof. In this way, with pencil and paint one can possess beauty, smuggle it home in a sketchbook, and recreate it as one’s own. It’s a form of artistic Elginism! I have invented what I was prevented from seeing in reality and in so doing have created a place which is mine, inspired by but not tied to actuality and truth.
We would love you to see the show at Summers Place 17th – 19th, 10 – 4pm.
Summers Place Auctions,
The Walled Garden,
Summers Place
Billingshurst,
West Sussex RH14 9AB
Paintings & Patrons
Redentore Fireworks: 60″ x 120″, 152cm x 305cm
Just a few days ago we completed the installation of a major commissioned watercolour in its destination, in a private collection in Britain. The ‘Redentore Fireworks over Venice’ had been the result of a discussion between artist and patron, and blended beautifully the aspirations of the one with the opportunities of the other. It was to be the largest watercolour I had painted, conceived over a kitchen table in Sussex, born in my little boat in Venice and brought up in Watts’s Great Studio in Surrey. It is a work which I had wanted to get my teeth into on a pioneering scale but which I could never have justified painting speculatively for the open market. It is also a work which the patron would scarcely have imagined possible and would never have found in a gallery. The result surprised both of us. Such is the power of patronage.
A few weeks earlier I had made a last-minute dash to see the ‘Turner in Sussex’ exhibition at the National Trust’s Petworth House. The National Trust, as institutional guardians of our heritage, tend towards the cosy reassurance of our cultural identity rather than providing inspiration for its onward development, and this exhibition at Petworth House gave me a sturdy reminder of the role of patronage in art.
What leapt out at me on that cold grey day, was the set of four later Turners commissioned by Lord Egremont for the Carved Room, luminous sunsets over the park right there outside the windows. They shone out of the gloom, striking and incongruous in their modernity. They signal Turner’s mature departure from the merely topographical into the purely ethereal in painting. As the great aesthete Kenneth Clark said of this period in Turner’s work, “the idea that the world is made up of solid objects with lines around them ceased to trouble him”. Rather what I had felt about the Venetian fireworks. Turner had been aged 54 when he painted these, roughly my age, approaching the peak of his career.
The point of patronage, it struck me there in the Carved Room, was way beyond simply buying paintings, or commissioning views of interest to the patron, which are sometimes achingly dull to the painter. “Remember…” says a sign I once saw in a pub, “…Children & Animals are only of Interest to their Owners!” That applies to houses too, painted for pride not posterity. The powerful patronage that Turner enjoyed from Lord Egremont – his super-patron – provided an enablement where the artist was given abundant opportunity, hospitality, place, society and yes, money too. This enablement was benign and not proscriptive, in other words the super-patron enables the painter to pursue his own development, on a copious scale and, importantly, over a long period. The relationship between them generates immortality for both, certainly in the case of Egremont & Turner.
For me the art is in the creation, not just in the idea. Creation has to have inspiration, love of the subject, knowledge and commitment. And ability of course. But art needs a midwife, someone who brings it into the world safely while looking after its creator. That is the role of the patron. So what qualifications does a patron need? A sensitivity to beauty, a hunger for excellence and sufficient knowledge to identify excellence when he or she sees it, a willingness to gamble perhaps and an interest in immortality. Oh, and adequate money! Roll up, roll up!
We hung the ‘Redentore Fireworks’ in the hallway of its Elizabethan house, a former carriage entrance enclosed to make an entrance hall with a modern staircase built of glass. This was never intended to be a traditional watercolour, framed conventionally. Instead we enclosed the 5 x 10 foot sheet of paper between two sheets of oversize glass and suspended it a few inches away from the wall, the deckled edge of the paper casting its own shadow, the only ornament in the space. Stark modernity, bold and striking. Finally we stood back to see the painting in its intended space, the fireworks shooting up the stairs to the right and the calm of the full moon beckoning towards the dark courtyard on the left. It was the final keystone in the project. Painter and patron delighted, I realised it was one of the most important milestones in my career, to date.
So what’s next? I have in mind a triptych of very much larger watercolours which will enable me to push the boundaries of expression and of technical ability. I am also researching the composition of a large architectural ceiling painting in watercolour, and exploring the possibility of an expedition to Central Asia to tread the dust of the Silk Road. The next few months should reveal some exciting new work! We shall see.
Films of the Creation & Installation of the Redentore Fireworks