Throughout my life I have been involved in many festivals, from going to my first, Barsham fayre in Norfolk, when I was ten. I can still remember the sights sounds and smells and the magic was born.
In the 1980’s I began to go to Glastonbury. I loved the spirit of the occasion, the sense of discovery and playfulness. My involvement with the festival has carried on and now has become a great place to inform some of my paintings. Over the last fifteen years I have been involved with the Glastonbury Kids field.
I arrive at the festival two weeks early so I can get ideas for paintings and also do work around the site. I enjoy this time watching it slowly build up and the amount of space you have to wander about and take in the rising atmosphere of expectation. I work on canvases around the site, the coloured marquees , the people wandering around all become part of the work. During the festival I put up my antiquated scout tent and run painting workshops for the kids and hang the works I’ve painted for them to see. They can produce some amazing stuff.
The paintings ‘Festival Dresses’ , ‘Helter Skelter, Glastonbury’ and ‘She Loved to Fly’ were all painted at the festival.
India is a place of festivals. I have been there many times and last winter I stayed in a house with a studio in Kerala. I wanted to base myself somewhere for a long period so I could paint some larger works on canvas. Sometimes I’m just travelling, and it only allows for work on smaller a scale. I had the house for six months but during this time I also ventured up North to Varanasi, Rishikesh , Haridwar , and Jaisalmer . All these places are beautifully unique and informed my paintings in so many ways.
Varanasi is a city of festivals and where Hindu families cremate their deceased loved ones and scatter their ashes into the Ganges as part of a tradition that is believed to break the cycle of reincarnation. The evenings are full of sounds and smells and If you want to celebrate Deepavali, Varanasi is where you should be headed. The paintings, ‘Looking up at an Angel’ , and ‘She danced with the sacred cow and the Peacock’ developed from this stay.
Rajasthan Desert Festival in Jaisalmer, the ‘Golden City’ of India is well known for its festival. Jaisalmer showcases the best of the rich culture and heritage of Rajasthan. Camel shows, performances by local folk artists, moustache competitions, turban tying competitions, the horse race, and many other events take place over three days. The painting ‘Natures Gardener’ comes from the idea of nurturing life in the desert. It’s a life full of difficulties and beauty in such a harsh climate.
Back in Kerala I explore the beaches, the backwaters and waterfalls, the hills of the western Ghats. These all inform my paintings in so many ways. ‘Nature’s Boatman’ depicts the beauty and serenity of the narrow rivers of Kerala. The boatman punts his boat slowly through the sounds and colour of nature. ‘Festival Music and Dance’ encompasses the spirit of one of so many festivals in Kerala. The people here need no excuse to put on a festival, usually based around one of the many colourful temples adorned in lights and sounds.
Festival conjures up many images; sounds, smells and colours , the clothes and costumes, the lights and music. Festival is something innate in the human spirit and is lived out in many forms and places.
