Falling and Feeling Fragile

The painting, Falling, is depicting a feeling that I can have if I am feeling anxious. Simply the act of letting go and falling down. It stems from a time in my childhood where I seemed to be the object of my parent's frustration and anger. It is only in hindsight that I can look back and feel that I recognise now where that feeling comes from. So, the image is representing a posy of daffodils, the miniature variety in a vintage Cornish jug. So it suggests a certain time, during the late 60s. I have painted using a limited palette of bonny blues and contrasting yellows to suggest the period and also to suggest the time of year, Spring, when the flowers would emerge. I have shown the jug as it is just in the act of falling and the stems are coming out. The tablecloth is an actual found vintage fabric that has been applied to the surface with glue. This time I decided not to paint over the surface of the fabric but just to leave it natural. I don't know if or how its colouration will change over time. I have made the panel in two square panels to increase the feeling of separation coming apart and falling.

Feeling Fragile on the other hand expresses my feelings of another's breakdown. Both paintings were shown in my Exhibition, Childhood memories at Yore Mill throughout August 2023. The egg cup is also a Cornish ware ceramic that conjures up the late 60s to me when I was growing up. This painting is also using a limited bright palette of pastels to create a vintage feel and again the placement of the objects is asymmetrical to suggest unease. The ceramic doll represented is the type that would be found in the bathrooms of elderly aunts to coyly disguise the toilet roll with a crocheted doily skirt. The doll represents a femininity that I could not relate to as a child. The doll is broken and chipped, the egg cup is overturned and the egg shell is empty and cracked. Mental health, postpartum female health, issues that were swept under the carpet in the 60s and addressed with a tough love, get on with it attitude. There's lots more to discuss, small painting, big issues, scratching the surface.