Ars Longa Vita Brevis

Managed today to finally resolve the three collages below into a triptych format. The small 19th century academic studio photographic fragments create a human scale and proportion in relation to the 'empty', 'closed' or 'blocked' windows and frames that have an architectural quality by way of scale ratios between picture and wall. The pictorial surface space functions as the facade of a building might with doors or windows set into a flat surface articulated with shallow relief.  It alludes to the quality of patina that might be found on a weathered wall whilst also exploring the various nuances of texture and tone that emerge from torn layers of card, tape and paper in the process of collage over time with carefully planned 'accidents'. Evoking the incidental passage of time is in fact the result of many days work and much trial and effort before the composition finally emerges and feels 'right'.

The next stage will be to work with oil paint on a wood surface prepared with layers of sanded gesso to 'translate' this image into colours, tones and texture of oil paint medium that works both as paint in its own right at the same time that it  evokes the material quality of papery collage.... 

  

Travel broadens the mind.............

Below are various photographs taken in the urban environments of Naples, Pompei and Brussels with architectural facades and surfaces that include sculptural and ornamental relief around doors and windows, painted walls, photography, collage and illusionist trompe l'oeil creating depth in shallow surfaces and opening up views into distance spaces. These images and experiences are inspirational for me especially the way they show what Marguerite Yourcenar called 'That Mighty Sculptor, Time'.  There is a remarkable resilience in human creation, in architectural and sculptural forms, marks and images, which continue to persist against the inevitable passage of time and the transience of all things.  Ars Longa, Vita Brevis ( Art is long, Life is short )