How an artist arrives at a piece of work - the inspiration for it - is always a journey of reference that can potentially open a world beyond the image to the view owner
Two examples of this for me are first the 1,400 tianguis - open air markets - of Mexico City and the Minoan settlements on Crete. They are both inspiring a series of paintings I’m working on at the moment.
The markets spring up most days of the week in the city and date back to before European invasions. They were, and still are, places for people to come to buy ingredients, produce and mass produced products. Seen from above, they are typical of the vibrant colours of modern and ancient Mexican culture and - like the street plans I adore - they are a many handed collage of colour and depth layered out over Mexico City's streets.
And by the same token there are the remains of a Minoan fishing village on an island off Mochlos, Crete. Actually it’s two islands and a village on the mainland. Confusing. But in episode one of Civilisations - the recent BBC series - the camera man with Simon Sharma's beautiful narration spectacularly reveals this intricate ruin from a drone shot. Again an inspection that has unlocked the Minoan culture to me. And then, completely by happy accident, while trying in vain to get to this island I noticed a beautifully clouded random set of Greek box hives sitting on a cliff edge overlooking the island and so begins another series of ideas I’m working on.
Discovery on discovery on discovery to some and me… probably "whatever" to others! Let me know what you think.
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