Outside - in
Lots of people have asked me about what I call my “Outside In” series of prints, so here goes…
It all began with a call out from the Graphic Studio to make a piece for the Botanic Gardens.
The work had to conform to a specified size and format. After thinking about the subject I started to look beyond the obvious subjects, plants, flowers, trees even the various glass houses. And suddenly it came to me; I would find a photograph of Richard Turner, the designer of the beautiful curvilinear glasshouse at the Botanic Gardens, and make a silhouette drawing of him. Within this I would draw part of his glasshouse. This print, “Mr Turner’s grand design” was very popular. It was also selected for the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, a show I hadn’t succeeded in getting into since 1987!
After this, I made “Homage to Piero della Francesca”. Taking his most iconic work, the double portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino as my subject, I placed the landscapes in the background within their silhouettes.
“Mr Morris’s wonderful wallpaper” is a nod to another of my heroes, William Morris. Once again I sourced a photograph of him and this time I placed one of his most famous designs, “The strawberry thief” within his silhouette. Using his “Acanthus” design, I embossed the border of the image.
So now you know!