I was going to title this post: Portraits of the Damned.
Then I started to include landscapes and still-lives to it. So, the title wouldn’t really make sense. But it will in a minute! Be afraid, be very afraid.
Some of you may, or may not, know that I volunteer for an Arts charity called Arc, (Arts for Recovery in the Community), in Reddish, Stockport.
I’ve done a lot of this work there, and some at home. But all the techniques I’ve picked up are from either attending or volunteering on their programmes.
Whether it be block-printing, collage, charcoal, watercolour, acrylics, inks, fabric, embroidery, clay or pastel. Not to mention the numerous techniques, yes brushes, but also charcoal tied to the end of a three feet long piece of bamboo! Bits of old Paymobil and Lego, edges of long out-of-date credit cards.
At Arc, it’s never about the technique and what end result you achieve, it’s about enjoying the process of doing it. Losing yourself, immersing yourself in art for a few hours – now that is medicine!
I appreciate that my work is more the stuff of nightmares rather than living room walls. But I like it!
Collage
Pencil sketches
Watercolour
Self-portraits
Charcoal
Pen and ink sketches
Portraits of the Damned!
Mostly acrylic and chalk pastel on canvas or paper.
And finally, the installation I made for the centenary commemoration of the end of the First World War at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery. R.I.P. Herbert Jackson of Didsbury Road, Heaton Mersey, Stockport. Railway man, musician, fiance – and soldier.
David Milligan-Croft
You’re right. Portraits of the damned would have been harsh on the banana.
Very impressive body of work!
Ha, ha, OA. I bet them apples wouldn’t’ve liked it very much either. Daffs, on the other hand, can be a bit feisty. Oh, and thank you. 🙂
Congrats. No 1 in collage and no1 in Pen and Ink are my favs.
Thanks Kelvin, much appreciated. Keep meaning to do more of those #1 collage ones, but you need printing equipment that I don’t have. I’m sure Arc would let me use theirs if I asked.
Wow. I’m floored by this collection, so much emotion and intensity in these pieces, and so well done. I’m struck by all the eyeless faces and those who have their mouths stitched shut. But there’s not one that didn’t affect me. What great work.
I LOVE this body of work.
Wow, so much here.
So much to really like.
I don’t find it gloomy at all, I find it courageous and sensitive and comforting and inspiring.
Please don’t stop.