Self- Portrait Wearing My Oodie

Each painting is a stepping stone. You cannot create a new painting without having created all the ones that came before. This idea led me to create my latest work, including 'Self-portrait in my oodie' and 'Serenity'.  All painters are familiar with the countless rags lying around their workspace that they have used to clean their paint brushes. Looking at mine one day reminded me of photographs of Lucian Freud, rags towering in corners of his studio. They also became a feature in many of his paintings alongside the models. 

 

My painters’ rags hold stories of previous paintings. The colours mixed for specific pieces with paint marks left from the brushes as I clean them. For my recent paintings the canvas is made of these rags stitched together, stretched over a frame, and prepped with clear gesso. I then painted directly onto the rags in oils. It is important to see all the colours and brush marks on the rags from the previous paintings in the background. The painting remains unframed as I want the rags that stretch around the edges to be visible.
 

 

Oil on Rags

42x36x4cm

Unframed