Midnight Snack

Inspired by the idea to push beyond the limits of one's creative practice for the VAS Contemporary Exhibition 2022, I have included more elements than usual in my still life painting of the avocado, globe grape and shell group - these elements were painted from life. The Midnight Snack monster wasn't. However it was spotted in a lucid dream not long ago. Depicting it in this fashion is where I have departed from my prior conventions, in that the creature was built with compound directly onto the canvas. Each shell element, gem stone and so forth, was set in the compound direct to the stretched canvas. The challenge then continued as I endeavoured to use tonal realism principles to paint the still life subjects, albeit using a contemporary lighting arrangement of more than one light source on the subjects for an overall surrealist effect. I have used my signature style mixed media framing device incorporating the use of metallic foil, which removes the need for additional framing. There is also a hidden dimension to this work in the rendering of the grape, as the bloom treatment is my interpretation of the ghostly shark outline lurking in the tumultuous waters in JMW Turner's painting 'The Shipwreck'; a large reproduction of which used to hang in the family dining room.