A little bit of Bohemian in me… wanting a little bit more! 🙂 Acrylics on canvas, 18″x14″, inspired by my visit to the National Gallery… the works of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, Renoir, Degas… seeing the masterpieces in real, the colours, the brushstrokes… the sunflowers, still life, ballet dancers, bathers… a print or an image does no justice to a painting, you have to see it in real to get the sense of magic, the aura!
There was a purpose behind my visit to the gallery yesterday, had gone to attend a ‘storytelling’ event, by storyteller Sally Pomme Clayton, to hear her tales inspired by the mysterious atmosphere of Degas’s painting, Helene Rouart in her Father’s Study.
A beautiful performance in front of the painting, lasting an hour, combining vibrant spoken words, music, myths of longing and travel… taking me to another world of art and creativity! (just saw, the event is mentioned on her blog, http://sallypommeclayton.com/blog/)
With an open mind my conscious and sub conscious is more receptive to things around me and so when I came back home in the evening, my gaze fell upon this beautiful wall hanging (my parents had gifted it, from India) and I thought of painting it as a background for a new piece of work. I took a canvas from the arty corner of the house (!) and did a simple wash of blue and green and let it dry overnight with an idea bubbling in the head… a canvas with some colour is more inspiring than a blank one, when you get up the next morning! 🙂 And today, without pencil or charcoal, I drew the face with a coloured brush and then came the tones, the hair, the shadows, the background… it all just flowed easily. Initially I had thought of using another angle of the face but then this just seemed perfect for this painting… very happy with the result! A part of my personality in my current works… the bohemian, the wanderer in me!
... painting a world of my own! 
No doubt-its one of your masterpieces
Thanks! I enjoyed painting it and liked the end result too! 🙂