There’s something really appealing about a line of fresh washing blowing in the breeze. Especially when it’s on the roof of a Greek village house or in a quiet back street, with the backdrop of a clear cobalt sky.
‘After the beach’ was one of those paintings which pretty much create themselves. Quite possibly because it was painted in the midst of a heatwave! I had a clear idea of the composition from the start and created a small thumbnail drawing to start with. The details of the washing evolved though, from plain white towels to decorative collaged swimwear.
I’m always fascinated by my neighbours summer beach timetables… Some people religiously visit the beach in the mornings… others after work and before lunch.. others go in the early evenings, clutching their frappe. Most people count their ‘bagnio’s’ or swims so it’s a handy subject of conversation – ‘How many bagnio’s have you had’? I always seem to loose count!
‘After the Beach’ is an acrylic mixed-media collage painting, created with layers of acrylic paint, wax and ink on watercolour paper. The collage elements (the swimwear and towel!) were created from a selection of my hand-decorated collage papers.
The first layers of paint were embossed with a variety of tools to create a slightly raised texture and the building, steps and foreground were also drawn into the wet paint at this point. When dry, layers of paint and wax were applied and variously scratched into and sanded back to give a weathered look to the foreground and walls. The collage elements were carefully chosen, cut, pasted and overdrawn into the painting, along with the clothes line.