Life Study, 1972
Pastel
on paper, 60x46cm. One of many nude studies executed while teaching
Life Drawing at a London Borough of Hillingdon evening class.
The present model was a student at Shoreditch College where
the pastel was shown in the Senior Common Room for many months.
Retained. |
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The Green School, Isleworth,
Oil on canvas,
c. 34x41cm. Sold. Painted on location. One of four paintings,
each showing different aspects of the school. They were all
commissioned as leaving presents for members of staff. Present
location of this and related pictures unknown. |
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Metamorphosis, 1972
Oil on canvas, 104x71cm., Exhibited:
Senior Common Room., Shoreditch College. Retained. One of
several pictures influenced by the then current craze for
psychedelia..
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The
Big Bang - a misapprehension, 1972
Oil on canvas, 77x60cm., Partly occasioned by an interest in
Eastern mandala but also by the more intriguing aspects of cosmolgy.
The fact that the moment of creation is now thought to have
been 'universal' rather than 'particular' gives rise to the
'misapprehension' in the title. |
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Self Portrait, 1972
Pastel on paper, 42x30 cm. One of many self portraits in possession of the artist. He finds himself a patient model and always available when looking to improve his ability to draw organic form. |
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Oil, Shoreditch College, Englefield Green, 1978.
Oil on canvas, c.40x64cm. Framed. Sold to a former colleague, now deceased. One of four paintings, each depicting a different view of the college and all commissioned by colleagues. Last known location: Reading, Berks. Once the proud home of Engineers attached to the Indian Army, the building passed to Shoredtch College of Education and thence to Brunel University. It is presently unused. |
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Oil, Henley from the Bridge, 1971
Oil on canvas ,c.24x29 cm. Painted on location. Commissioned by a former oarsman who is said to have taken 'too many' of the prizes at the Henley Royal Regatta. Last known location: Englefield Green, Surrey. |
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Progress of the Seasons, 1977.
Oil on canvas,91x63cm. One of many paintings based on 'formal free association' - the subject and title emerging from the work, rather than the other way round. The progress may be seen as clockwise, beginning perhaps with Winter in the lower right quadrant. Framed. Retained. |
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Aquatic Reverie, 1983.
Water Colour c.27x22 cm. Mounted. Retained. There are hints of a nautilus shell and other creatures of the deep. There is also an image suggesting a foetus. The picture appears to conform to the idea that 'ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny'. |
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Finger Painting, 1984.
Water Colour, 27x24cm. Mounted. Retained. Some may see sensuous exporing hands. Others may well say that it is just another doodle. Could both be right? |
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Alladin's Lamp, 1987.
Water Colour, c.27x24 cm. Framed. Sold. Present location: Woking Surrey. The 'lamp' is an electric light bulb - the magic is the genie which emerges from its cap - this after the 'lightest' of touches. |
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Duck Pond, 1987.
Water Colour, c.27x24cm. Mounted. Retained. The result of 'free formal association' (cf. Sanctus 1978). The Duck (this one of indeterminate breed!) is an important symbol in many mythologies. For the Hebrews it represented immortality, while in China and Japan it symbolises conjugal happiness. |
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Sanctus, 1978.
Water Colour, 27x24cm. Mounted. Retained. Another example of 'formal free association' culminating in an hieratic image, here suggesting a crown, candle etc. The image could evoke something of the splendour associated with catholic ritual. |
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Campsite at La Grande Pressigny, 1982.
Pen and Ink, c.26x18cm., Retained. One of many surviving drawings done while on holiday at campsites in various parts of Europe. The mysterious ambience of the apparently deserted and overgrown building made an instant appeal. |
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Storm on the Lake, 1979.
Oil,c. 758x500 cm. Retained. A 'free translation' of one of the miniatures found in the 'Aachen Ottonian Gospel Book' - the subject of the artist's research (in Aachen and at Courtauld Inst. and Manchester University) from 1977 to 1985. |
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Cornucopia, 1984.
Water Colour,c.31x23cm. Mounted. Retained. Another example of 'formal free association' (see 'Sanctus', 1978). |
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Thatchers Ford, Farley Hill, 1987.
Oil on Canvas, c.49x63 cm. Framed. Exhibited: Burghfield Annual Show. Sold. Present location unknown. |
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Full Fathom 5, 1986.
Water Colour , 27x24cm. Mounted. Retained. The title refers to the passage in The Tempest: - 'Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made...'. |
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Raptor's Eye View, 1988.
Water Colour, 36x26cm. Mounted. Retained. The image was adapted as an aquatint in 1994 (Edition of ten prints). Two prints were sold. A hovering bird seems to look down on a complex lanscape. The Eagle and Hawk are known in mythology as 'solar birds' and symbolise authority, victory and the spiritual instinct in humanity. |
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The Old School, Riseley, 1988.
Oil on canvas, 63x69cm. Framed. Retained. The School was built in 1853 and decomissioned in the 1960's. The cottage which projects from the main school building became the home of John and Shirley Spencer from March 1987. |
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The Blushful Hippocrene, 1988.
Water Colour, 27x24 cm. Mounted. Retained. Adapted as an aquatint (Edition of 10) One aquatint sold. The title is from Keats:- 'O for a beaker full of the warm South,/ Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,/ With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,/ And purple-stainéd mouth; ....'
Keats, in seems, was thinking of a mythological horse identified with inspiration and a fountain on Mt. Helicon. |
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Campsite in Brittany, 1989.
Pen and wash, c.18x26cm., Not shown. Retained. The deserted chateau bordered the site and impressed with its faded grandeur |
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School Lane, Riseley, 1990.
Oil, 670x880cm. Not shown. Retained. Painted on location, looking north in early morning. |
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Rockpool, 1996.
Aquatint, 14x19cm.(Edition of 10 ). Shown with Reading Guild of Artists in 1996. All (?) retained. The original Water Colour has not been shown and is also retained. As in many other water colours produced at this time an attempt was made to give a third dimension to an essentially two dimensional design. |
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Pandora's Jug, 1993.
Aquatint, 24x20cm. (Edition of 50) based on a water colour which is retained. Shown at Reading Guild of Artist's Annual Exhibition and at 'Black on White' - a five person show at 'The Henley Art Centre'. Several aquatints were sold. Present locations: Henley and Reading. |
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School Lane Under Snow, 1991.
Oil on canvas, 34x24cm. Painted on location. Shown at Burghfield Annual Art Exhibition? Sold. Present whereabouts unknown. |
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Dreamscape, 1994.
Water Colour, 22x27cm., Not Shown. Retained. One of many invented (and usually languorous) landscapes painted at this time. The concern was to give a third dimension to what some might confuse with earlier, two dimensional, arabesques. |
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Less Exploding Than Welding, 1998.
Water Colour, 28x22cm. Not shown, Retained. Has the attempt to paint a titanic explosion backfired (cf. 'The Big Bang: a Misapprehension, 1972)? The image can be read as an implosion or (so the pa\inter feels) as the business of arc-welding. Can one detect intense light reflected from onlookers visors? |
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Free Fall Manouevre, 1998.
Water Colour, 24x27 cm. Not shown. Retained. One of many pictorial 'inventions' - all intended to explore an imagined spatial environment. As with 'Sanctus, 1978' they are 'formal free associations' - with no plan at the outset (the design suggesting the title). |
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Fabergé in Reverse, 1998.
Water Colour c.24x27 cm, Not shown. Retained. The creative process was that described under 'Free Fall Manoeuvre, 1998'. Fabergé decorated eggs - here a 'natural' egg gets its own back. |
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A Cautious Icarus, 1989.
Water Colour, c.27x34cm. Not shown. Retained. The creative process was that described under 'Free Fall Manoeuvre, 1998'. Anxious to protect itself against the melting heat of the sun and buoyed up by balloons, its progress is more like that of a tortoise than a man with aspirations to fly. |
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3
"Water Colour" 27x23cm. Exhibited: The Alchemy Gallery , London WC1:- ('Types and Symbols' 10-27th April ,2000). Sold. Present Location: Woking Surrey. The creative process was that described under 'Free Fall Manoeuvre, 1998'. One may think of a triumphant if perilously over-heated return to earth after a journey in space. |
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Dandy-Cock, 1998.
Water Colour, 28x20cm. Not shown. Retained. The creative process was that described under 'Free Fall Manoeuvre, 1998' . A 'Dandy-Cock' or 'Dandy-hen' is described in the OED as 'one who studies ostentatiously to dress fashionably...' |
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Trial of Strength, 1998.
Water Colour,28x20cm.Not shown. Retained. The creative process is similar to that described under 'Free Fall Manoeuvre, 1998' |
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Glide Path, 1998
Water Colour, 30x22cm. Not shown. Retained. The creative process was that described under 'Free Fall Manoeuvre, 1998'. The descent seems hazardous and every attempt is made to slow it down. |
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| Water Colour, 30x22cm., Not shown. Retained. The approach was that described under 'Free Fall Manoeuvre, 1998'. Someone or something (a stopcock?) keeps the contenders apart. |
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Flying Machine, 1998.
µ
Water Colour, 30x22cm. Not shown. Retained. The approach was that described under 'Free Fall Manoeuvre, 1998'. The machine may seem much in need of downward pointing jets. |
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Oil, 78, Evendons Lane, 1986.
Oil on canvas, 63x93cm. Framed. Retained. Painted on location. John and Shirley Spencer stand outside their first real home. An attempt has been made to approach the 'photo-realism' popular among painters in the eighties. |
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The Sea Gives up Her Treasures, 1990.
Water Colour, 31x23cm. Mounted. Not shown. Retained. The image was adapted as an aquatint in 1994 (Edition of 25) . Some prints have been sold. |
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Alchemy, 1990.
Water Colour c.27x24cm Mounted. Retained. The image suggests a flask warmed by hand or fire - perhaps holding some very special elixir. |
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