Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time!

Wow! Finished at last but this one falls into the category ''seemed like a good idea at the time!'', it has taken forever but it is of course a biggie! 

Where There is Shadow There Has to be Light

At 60cm x 80cm it the painting has used a huge amount of pastel (especially a favourite dark purple, which I will now have to somehow replace!) and I have used a couple of acid greens that I've never found a use for. 

It’s funny how some things just stick in your mind and as I took in the atmosphere at the Japanese Garden in Würzburg I was reminded of the colours of a pair of Chinese pyjamas I was given as a child. With a background in textile design, I've always loved the feel of gorgeous material and I can still feel the cool silky satin on my skin, and although the pyjamas were Chinese the palette in the garden just reminded me of them. 

Japonisme of course had a great influence on many European artists and designers in the mid 19th C and early 20th C Japan emerged from isolation and the opening of ports to trade meant the Japanese pottery, silks and art started to emerge in Europe. Many artists fell in love with Japanese wood prints and the stylistic use of colour, asymmetry and space; artists like van Gogh bought these prints in Paris and shared them with his fellow artists. In paintings by Degas and Whistler the Japanese aesthetic is very clear to behold. The fashion for Japanese gardens also arrived in Europe at this time and Monet’s is a perfect example of the Japanese influence. 

By the 1890s fabulous Japanese textiles and designs were to be seen in clothing, Kimonos were used for leisure wear, fans, combs, shawls and parasols were everywhere. If you look at the work of one of my favourite artists/designers Charles Rennie Macintosh, his designs for furniture and textiles were very much influenced by Japonisme. 

In a flashback to my art school days (in the iconic Charles Rennie Macintosh Glasgow School of Art building which has been burnt virtually to the ground) I remember one fabulous art history lecture about Japanese hand painted kimonos, the colours and designs stuck in my mind as things of absolute beauty and I wanted this painting to be like a fabulous kimono, intricate, colourful, delicate but impactful and hope it has this feel. When I arrived at the Japanese garden for a visit, I emerged from trees bathed in shadows to this glowing panorama before my eyes, I hope I've managed to portray just that.