Walking Bare

Format: 841*594mm

Medium: Hand made inks, bleach, graphite, gesso, silver foil and collage.

This is one of my favourite Ted Hughes inspired pieces. There is a beautiful oxymoron phrase in the poem which is the basis of my painting. The idea that the birds are free, yet are frustratingly stationary; the wings blend into the mountain tops to create the body of the eagles. I have used silver foil to enrich the colour scheme and to cool down the warm blues that I have used for the mountains, to better reflect the cold environment.

The Scream

Format: 841*594mm

Medium: Hand made inks, bleach, graphite, oil stick and oil paint.

A bat is not a bird, but the figure fits best for the concept of the poem. In my usual style I have tried to incorporate as many of the poem's verses and phrases into the image without over crowding it. The wings of the bat are mountains draping over the scene. Reminiscent of fables and legends in which a winged woman would drape herself over the day sky, and create night.

  The two (almost) invisible cow's heads act as two visual props. Both the sun and the moon or two animals caught in a car's flood lights. 

The Scapegoat

Format: 841*594mm
Medium: Hand made ink, colour pencil and bleach.
The rooster is described as a majestic fool. My first inspiration came from medieval drawings of jesters. This influenced both the design of the bird but also of the background. Although difficult to see on a computer screen, I have also added puppet strings to the rooster, to prove how immobile and the lack of control the character has.

The Risen

Format: 841*594mm
Medium: Hand made ink, bleach, colour pencils and collage.
The idea behind this piece was to reflect the story of Icarus and the sun. The use of collage (which is not widely used in my work) was to mirror the soft hand rendered lines against the crisp planes of the diamond collage. Ted Hughes' was comparing the sharpness of the hawks vision with a diamond, which is why I used collage for both the eye and the ground, as a way of connecting the two elements.
  Using an airbrush was a way to blend the background using soft translucent layers of colour, as to make the sun, rich, dense, soft and yet powerful.

The Executioner

Format: 841*594mm
Medium: Hand made inks, bleach and oil stick 
The title explains the painting. I would like to upload the text, as only then would you be able to fully grasp the subtle images and phrases that I have incorporated. One line paraphrased: "The Streets of blood flowed"
  The only other facet worth mentioning is: the eyeballs reflect the cosmos, another line from the poem.

Something Was happening

Format: 594*420mm
Medium: Hand made ink, graphite and house hold emulsion.
This piece I will most probably re-work as the emphasis is not on the burnt turkey but on the typical English country kitchen. The composition leaves a bland taste in the mouth. My reading of the poem is that Ted Hughes' was writing a goodbye love letter to Sylvia Plath. His unbearable chauvinism and old fashioned nature could be the reason why she killed herself. Although not easy to see from the painting, I wanted to have Sylvia's hand writing scratched into the dead, burnt turkey. A small portrait of the poet is on the plates on the right.

She Seemed So Considerate (2)

Format: 841*594mm
Medium: Hand made inks, bleach and enamels.
Another version of the painting below. I prefer this version as there is a lot more dimension and motion in the picture. Although I like the subdued colours of version (1), I have used a lot more texture in this piece to create depth.