CURRENT PAINTINGS:

BOTANICA AND HERBALS • My current paintings reflect an ongoing passion for Herbals and Botanicas which were being painted and drawn from early 10th Century to the late 17th Century.

VOTIVES • Recent paintings are around the votive/ex voto theme. During the Middle Ages it was common for people to buy or commission votives in the form of a painting, carving or model depicting their specific wishes. Later, these items would be presented/offered as spiritually or emotionally significant symbols of the supplicant’s desires and needs.

The imagery I am using for this collection reflects many aspects of human need and desire, from the physical to emotional or psychological. The paintings will include themes such as madness, love, fertility, health, success, revenge.

Votive offerings have been vowed or dedicated to God/the gods, spirits, ancestors, saints or the higher powers since humans first roamed the earth. In Egypt, for instance, offerings were placed in tombs with the idea that the deceased would need the objects in the ‘unknown’.Votive offerings come in a variety of forms. Clay tablets, statues, paintings, models, vessels, weapons, utensils, jewellery, money, food, flowers, stones, fabric strips, candles and incense etc. are all found in and around churches, shrines and landmarks.

All works on canvas using acrylic paint.