The final painting in the series.

The final painting in the series for the Gosport War Memorial Hospital is now completed. It is a still life of the apples from the tree. It was difficult not to eat the apples I set up for observation!.

So I loosely used this composition on which to base my final painting. Here are pictures of the painting process for this still life.

I like to do underpainting with texture to get the form of the fruit - and the basic colour allows for overpainting on the texture and makes the additional colours more luminescent. Then I start to add observation detail.

As you can see this work is far more observational that the others in the rest of the full sequence. I have purposely divided the  composition up into halves and quarters; and I have also deliberately curved any lines. I have also stopped projected shadows short of moving into another quarter of the composition. Also the composition tends to mirror different projections from viewpoints with different planal values as if in a mirror. This is to help patients engage with sections of the work and not necessarily the whole composition. It is hoped that there will be some interaction with both hemispheres of the brain in that when patients look at this composition - they will actually be doing a form of cognitive and perceptual exercise. This is the rational behind this work.

Whilst working with the terminally ill in a Hospice - I noticed that patients with brain tumours would only register their own drawings on certain sections of the page. They were convinced when drawing their own still life composition, that they had drawn the entire still life across the whole page, when in fact whole sections of the work was actually missing. This is why I have divided up my final composition in this reflective and deliberate way.

Hopefully I will find somewhere to show the work in its entirety before it goes into the hospital - as the ward is secured and the work will be for patients and staff only.If anyone reading this blog could offer a space for a short exhibition - then please do get in touch!

 

Magic and Logic - nearly finished!!

March has been so hectic - lots of teaching and lots of painting for the Deadalus Ward for Dementia at Gosport War Memorial Hospital - too busy really to make a note on this blog! But here is the update - I have managed to complete a further three paintings and am about to start the final one. I am taking some time off from my university teaching in the spring break in order to bring this specific project to a close. The final painting in the tree sequence is complete, and two of the landscapes are also complete. The work is very simple, stylised and redolent of archetypical  representations usually associated with childhood.

Below is the final tree in the sequence - Autumn.

I will be putting the words of the patients and staff used to describe the seasons on the right hand branch of the trees. So below is a picture of how these trees will look all together.

As you can see they are taking up much of my kitchen at the moment! 

The next three paintings are part of the narrative of the painting sequence as a whole. The work is to be viewed as one whole piece rather than seven separate pieces. The fictional landscape contains the trees. The aim of the landscapes are to try to build a basic narrative as patients take the time to move along the corridor where the work is to be displayed. This may help staff to engage in that narrative with the patient. If the patient cannot remember one image to the next, there are other aspects of the work that can also be explored, such as texture colour, shape and form.

This simple and bright landscape also has the sea in the distant horizon. So the second landscape - is actually a seascape - the sea on the horizon. The patient has the chance to identify with the horizon, the mid ground of the landscape, and then the details of the tree - and the passing of time and the seasons.

The final painting in the sequence will be a simple still life - of the fallen apples from the tree. When all the work is completed I will try to find somewhere to show the work before they go onto the ward. I have enjoyed this project - and look forward to seeing it in situ. I am also going to turn elements of this blog into a book in order to raise further awareness and funds for creative projects on the ward. I will be looking to crowdsource the costs of the book - and hope for any help offered! 

With special thanks to: 

The Portsmouth University Art Shop 

and

www.artdiscount.co.uk