The Elder

"The Elder" A 11 x 14 acrylic painting
by Mark Phillips

I came across the photo that was the inspiration for this painting whilst browsing an online site that offers royalty free pictures for artists to reproduce.

I looked at dozens of photos that day but there was something about one of them that caught my interest. This eyes appeared to be different sizes, the nose bore an uncanny resemblance to Freundel Stuart's, and yet there was so much wisdom in that face.

Every line, every crease, every wrinkle seemed to belong. It was as if he had worked hard for and earned everyone. They fitted him like an expensive suit. There was so much wrong with that face but it somehow worked. You wanted to hear what he has to say. You wanted to benefit from his experiences.

I purposely limited myself to 8 hours work on this painting. This type of painting can consume an artist's time. Hours turn into days and days into weeks and still you will not feel that you have captured that correct expression that will turn a good painting into a great painting.

After 2 hours

I think that this is one that I will keep in my private collection. As me wife said, "Nobody is going to buy that ugly man". I forgave her for this comment as she saw the painting when I had just finished blocking in. I started with a white triple primed canvas that I primed with an additional 2 coats of black acrylic paint. I then sketched the face with a white charcoal pencil and proceeded to play with colours as I blocked in.

As you can see, I was working on getting the correct values in place. That is the dark and the light areas where they should be. Realistic colour was not important at this stage.

After 6 hours

Once I had determined where the light tones and the dark tones were I started to create a more realistic negroid colour. Not the easiest thing to do using a limited palette like I do! I use only the primary colours plus black and white. That is Cerulean Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Brilliant Red, Titanium White and Mars Black. With these I began to develop the dozens of shades of brown that make up the negroid skin tones. All the time watching the clock to ensure that I did not get carried away. I used only 2 brushes for this painting, a #6 short handle 3/8 wash and a #1 long handle synthetic liner.

The term Elder is used in several countries and organizations to indicate a position of authority. This usage is usually derived from the notion that the oldest members of any given group are the wisest, and are thus the most qualified to rule, provide counsel or serve the said group in some other capacity. It was with this in mind that I came up with the name for this piece. 

If you are not interested in my process or in the materials that I use, I apologize for inflicting this on you. My daughter suggested that I should let people know how and why I do things. Sometime it is good to listen to the youth. They are the future. Heaven help us!  If you will like me to continue to share my process, please leave a comment below.

I will leave you with 2 quotes today.

“The young man pities his elders, fearing the day he, too, will join their ranks. The elderly man pities the younger generation, well-knowing the trials and tribulations that lie ahead of them.” ― Lynda I Fisher

"I believe that when an elder dies, a library is burned: vast sums of wisdom and knowledge are lost. Throughout the world libraries are ablaze with scant attention."  -Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time when I will again share some more of my work. Please leave a comment.  And, I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. And, to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right. 

Mark Phillips
Artist
Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com
Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com
Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore

The Bajan Chattel House

"Home Sweet Home" a 11 x 14 acrylic painting by Mark Phillips

The Bajan Chattel House is indeed a thing of beauty. Uniquely Barbadian, this icon of the Barbados landscape has endured and developed with the changing times.

Once considered the home of the poor working class, this is no longer the case as the modern chattel home contains all of the modern facilities, appliances and electronic gadgets that you would find in the most upscale homes on the island.

"Home Sweet Home" is a rendition of the home of one of my clients. A typical middle class family that has chosen to make themselves more than comfortable in a piece of Barbadian history.

The Chattel house, like "Pudding & Souse", is the result of historical circumstances and local inventiveness. After Emancipation, most of the land was still owned by the plantations. The former slaves who opted to stay and work on the plantations were encouraged by the Plantocracy to live in communities on the plantations where they worked. However, the homes had to be "chattel", which means "movable possession." For this reason they were built of timber and set on stone blocks locally known as the "Ground Sill". In construction today, the ground plate or the ground sill has another meaning but in Bajan terms, it was the collection of stones on which the chattel house stood.  They were constructed in such a manner as to allow them to be disassembled, packed on a mule or ox cart, (stones and all), and transported to another plantation and  reassembled, in the event that the worker changed jobs. This could easily be accomplished all in one day with minimal damage to the structure!

Traditional Chattel House. A 11 x 14
acrylic painting by Mark Phillips

The traditional chattel house was an example of architectural ingenuity. The steep gable roof, constructed of corrugated iron, was adapted to suit the climate of heavy rains and winds. The angle of the roof deflects the wind rather than providing a platform for it to lift off. Many chattel houses had distinctive shutters and hoods over the windows that allowed for maximum  ventilation whilst still providing privacy and protection from the elements.

The front enclosed veranda or as my grandmother called it, "the gallery" was the heart of the home. This is  where we were allowed to play as children. That was until visitors came, as this was also the area where guests were entertained. Then we were required to be somewhere else so that the grownups could talk.

In the late 1960's , when I was still attending primary school, we lived with my grandfather.

My grandfather, "worked for the Government", and was an influential man in the community. We had the only telephone and the only TV, (a little black & white Zenith), in the area. These were both kept in the "gallery" which always seemed to be, not only the heart of the house, but the heart of the village as well. People frequently came to "beg for a phone call" or to retrieve a message left for them. On evenings, the neighbourhood children came to sit on the floor with me and my little brother to watch Sesame Street on the magical TV box.

Chattel House. A 9 x 12  acrylic painting
by Mark Phillips

Today as more and more Barbadians purchase land and realize their dream to "own a piece of the rock", the need to build chattel houses is no longer there. However, the practicality and simple beauty of this distinctly part of our Bajan heritage will continue to dot our landscape for generations to come. 

The chattel house has found a new lease on life  and is serving us well as shops and other places of business. There are shopping complexes in “chattel house villages” at St. Lawrence Gap and Sunset Crest, Holetown. These are wooden structures with some of the features and ambiance of the original structures. True replicas of the finest examples have been built in the Tyrol Cot Heritage Village, to showcase this unique, creative  icon for visitors and future generations.

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time when I will again share some more of my work and a little of the history of this blessed place that I am privileged to call home,  please leave a comment.  And, I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. And, to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right. 

Mark Phillips
Artist
Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com
Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com
Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore

"Quietude"

St. Peter's Parish Church, Barbados.
 An original 16 x 20 acrylic painting by Mark Phillips

I hope everyone, had a peaceful Easter weekend. I tried to get some rest but was only partially successful. In an ideal world, I would have spent most of the time in my studio but this was not to be. The responsibilities of being a father, a husband and the general fix-it man around the house got in the way.

This piece was painted in January 2018. I was in Speightstown an early morning sometime late last year when I noticed for the first time this scene you see here. It was a holiday, and Church Street  was all but deserted. I was sitting in my vehicle waiting to meet a client and something caught my eye. 

Maybe it was the way the light was reflecting off of the building or the way the guard walls allowed for an almost perfect study of 2-point perspective. Whatever it was, I knew that I was going to paint it. I was not driving my vehicle so I did not have my camera. I therefore turned to my trusty cell phone and shot a few reference images.

To be honest, the photos were ugly. I exercised my poetic, (or is it artistic), licence and did not paint the mess of  utility wires and poles that threatened to spoil this serene scene. I was originally going to name this piece "Tranquility" or "Serenity" but as fate would have it I came across the word "Quietude". Up until that point, I did not know that word even existed! But it was a perfect fit. It sounded more religious, perfectly befitting one of the oldest churches in Barbados.

St. Peter was one of the six original parishes and its first church was built in 1629. The second church was built 36 years later and a third church followed in 1837. This church was built in an essentially Georgian style with its square bell tower. St. Peter’s Parish Church was one of the three churches in Barbados which survived the hurricane of 1780, along with St. Andrew's Parish Church and All Saint's Chapel. This parish church however, was not so lucky when the hurricane of 1831 struck the island. The church was destroyed and by 1837 it was again rebuilt and consecrated.

This third church survived well into the twentieth century but then on April 21^st, 1980 tragedy struck and the church was largely destroyed by fire. The church building sustained damage primarily to the interior with the exterior walls and the tower escaping much of the damage. The church was rebuilt and subsequently restored to its former glory with one marked exception. The large bell that was previously housed in the church's clock tower could not be returned to its former location and so the bell is now housed on the outside of the church building, under a gazebo-like structure. 

Although St. Peter's Parish Church is one of the oldest churches in Barbados, because of the many tragedies faced by this church no early records have managed to survive. Despite this lack of a traditional written history however, one only has to take a stroll through the grounds of the church and even the interior of the church itself to be able to witness first-hand the history on which this church is grounded. 

On entering this edifice, the first thing that catches the eye, is the inscription which is positioned directly above the altar, "This is none other than the House of God and this is the Gate of Heaven Alleluia" this quote, carved in stone as it were, lends to the sacred feel of the church and coupled with the many elaborately carved plaques that date back to the seventeen hundreds, proclaim St. Peter’s Parish Church in Barbados as a treasure trove of historical finds. 

Some other examples can be found in the ornately carved pulpit inscribed with the words "Given to the Glory of God by Little John in memory of his mother" while the baptismal font at the back of the church bears the inscription "The Gift of John Sober Esq. to the Parish of Saint Peter 1767", even the bell which is now mounted outside in the churchyard bears the inscription "St. Peter's 1827".

It was my honour to paint this remarkable Barbadian Parish Church, this true piece of Barbadian history.

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time when I will share some more of my work and a little of the history of this blessed place that I am privileged to call home,  please leave a comment.  And, I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. And to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right. 


Mark Phillips
Artist
Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com
Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com
Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore

Easter Sunday...All Fool's day...

"Mushroom Rock", An original 16 x 20 acrylic painting by Mark Phillips 

Happy Easter!

At around 0230hrs this morning, I finally finished "Mushroom Rock". "Finished", might be too strong a word. I just stopped.

Today I will share you part of the work of literary artist Ian R. Clayton. This is the Bathsheba story.  I enjoy his work and I hope that you do as well.

This is Bathsheba, a small community nestled about a thin road that stretches for a few miles on the edge of a rugged coast. It lies at the foot of a hill and three roads, like fingers, point up the steep incline to the main connector routes the East Coast road and Horse Hill road. Horse Hill climbs over the center of the island to the West Coast. It is so steep that the older buses pipe blue smoke and can not go faster than a few miles an hour on the climb. I know this because I tried to pass one in my mother's 16 year old Suzuki, the one with the sewing machine for an engine. My top speed was 12 mph, only slightly faster than the slowly moving bus.

The village has its characters, the local surfers and their buddies like Horse, Snake, Smoky, Ace, Hoggy and Oz. World famous surfer Mark Holder (The Boss) is my neighbour, living in a yellow chattel house with his family.

I came home tonight before sunset and had to edge the car around a bull eating the hedge at the end of the drive. Villagers bring their cows, black bellied sheep and goats to graze wherever they see green. The soil is dry and barren, grass is scarce. I walked down the lane a little later and carefully passed the bull. It was still there, big, calm, happy, eating and looking very much like a bull. I met Snake, we exchanged acknowledgements: "Hi, hi man, howdy". "How is it?". "Good, man, and you?". "Great". "See you". A car passed and blew its horn at some lights on the corner. A busy night.

I was on my way to Round House, an inn and restaurant catering to tourist and upper class Bajans. The boys, Snake, Smoky and the Boss come here on reggae nights when their girls "from away" are in town.

The walk to Round House is about 1/2 mile from where I am staying. It ambles along the tiny road which used to be a railway track. It's twilight, I pass Smoky's shack where a young couple, tourists, sit watching the sea. They sit at a lone table in a room with no front wall. Smoky has knocked out the front walls to allow a better view of the sea. Some people say he knocked down the walls because he likes knocking down walls, but it looks like a creative and not destructive act. Smoky plans to make the shack into a bar and restaurant, but the health authorities denied his licence three times. He is still trying to get it approved; in the meantime you can join him and his herd of mongrel dogs for refreshments, TV and a chat, almost anytime.

Past Smoky's is the Bajan Surf Bungalow, run by Melanie, a world class surfer, who cooks flying fish lunches for her guests and runs the place in between a busy surfing schedule. Surfing is tough she says, "I get hit by boards, cut by coral and flung to the bottom by powerful waves that will knock the stuffing out of the fittest of us. Then I have to deal with all the guys trying to take possession of my waves and sometimes me. Some are just not cool". She is off to Brazil to represent Barbados in a couple of weeks. She is a pretty girl, in excellent shape from surfing and walking fast up and down the hills. Anna from England is staying with her, recovering from a broken heart. Bathsheba is a great place to recover, I think, from everything.

Round House is at the bottom of the North finger road which winds down a very steep hill. The buses

"The Soup Bowl", An original 16 x 20 acrylic painting by Mark Phillips 

don't pass this way and my Suzuki, can only make it with a running start. Round House food is wholesome fried fish fare with friendly service. People come for the ambiance, the view and the raw feeling of the place. Patsy the waitress, sometimes bar tender, cook and manager is a great hostess. She has a lovely smile and a gentle, sincere way with her guests. She loves Bathsheba, grew up here and never wants to leave. Got herself involved with a couple of guys who played around. Now she wonders what the hell commitments mean. She and her 6 year old daughter live just up the hill. She wants a rottweiler to keep her company now instead of a man. "I'll not trust a man again" she tells me. "I could not get close to you, if you were interested, I just would never trust you, a dog I can trust, a man, who can?". Hard words from such a slight and gentle person. But hurt will turn a warm heart cold and rob it of all feeling. Betrayal is a wretched kind of hurt. Playing around is part of the nature of many of these fun-loving Barbadian men. It's a game, a sport that becomes an addiction, almost a definition of who they are.

There is a church by the sea just down the road from a baker and rum shop. It is right beside Rest Haven, a rustic and overpriced apartment guesthouse. It is a community of traditional chattel houses, about four in all, close to some of the best surfing on the island. The chattel houses are old, and mostly held together by paint. Termites have half eaten them. Each house has a central room that acts as dining room, sitting room and an extra bedroom. Painted plywood tables and hard upright school chairs suggest fast food and heavy drinking rather than gourmet dining. It's a surfers den. 

Sea-U Guest house, just up the hill on the South finger, is the most upscale accommodation in the neighbourhood. It really is in Trents, a fishing outpost just to the south of Bathsheba. Beside Sea-U is Atlantis, a rather ugly concrete structure with a wonderfully authentic old-world feeling. The food is good local fare: pudding and souse, peas and rice, plantain, stews and fresh catch of the day. The dining room hangs above the water where fishermen land their catch. The wind blows strong through the open veranda.

On the North border of the village, above Round House, is Edgewater Inn. It has endured a multitude of owners and neglect. Wind and salt have taken a toll. Nothing survives the constant salt-abrasive wind. Rust seeps through cement walls and drips down painted wood. Cement structures decay from the inside out. Their reinforced iron rods rust, expand and crumble. Rust, wood, cement and strips of metal hold structures together by accident, it seems. Yet it is utterly charming and real. You sense a history and a past, rich with experience. The old buildings have a raw charm and fit perfectly into place.

It's a raw place this Bathsheba, but Bajans and tourists come here to escape and to recuperate: to breath the invigorating air, clean and fresh from its passage over thousands of miles of open sea; to feel the wild, moist wind on their faces, blowing all cares away. Many affluent Bajans own holiday homes here. They come for weekends and for vacations. They rent them out to friends. At Catllewash, half a mile north of Bathsheba village, there is a community of these holiday homes.

Cattlewash Holiday-Home owners are mostly white Bajans. They are not necessarily racially divided, just miles apart in culture, interests and lifestyles. On weekends and holidays they entertain at Catlewash with fish and chicken BBQ's, gourmet dinners with fine wine, and rum punch parties in the day. Cattlewash homeowners don't know Snake or Oz and have no interest in these lives.

Bathsheba is where the Cattlewash community buys bread, rum and other necessities. It has several rum shop-stores, a baker, an art studio and fruit and vegetable stalls. On the hilltop there is a surprisingly good mini supermarket that sells a variety of wine, food and provisions. The service is friendly and warm, with great attention to detail. I nearly bought vegetarian bacon, but the owner came over to show me the finest local bacon. If you want a local breadfruit, just ask and she get someone to pick a fresh, ripe one for you.

Stores are not just places to buy things, they are social clubs. People meet and chat even in the supermarket. Every corner store is a rum shop where talk and rum, good company and sharing are dispensed with candy bars, soap and cooking oil.

IN THE OLD DAYS

It was different in the old days when the trains ran along the coast to Bridgetown. The Gibsons came with picnic baskets, suitcases, the children and the cow. There was no store selling fresh milk and Mrs. Gibson knew that fresh milk was important for the family, especially the growing boys, so they always tried to bring Nelly the cow. Each year, when Mr. Gibson took his month's holiday from the sugar factory, they came by truck, packing cases, Nelly and the boys piled into the back. Sometimes Mrs. Gibson and the boys came by train for just a week, sometimes they came just for the weekend. There were always friends and families in the nearby homes; the children played in the Gully, caught crayfish in Joe's river and picked sea moss from the rocks. Mrs. Gibson boiled the sea moss and made it into a jelly which they ate. It did not taste so great but it was good for you.

It was before Surfboards had been, but young Bathsheba boys still played in the waves, without a thought of being stars. They stared at the families getting off the train and piling into donkey carts for the ride to Cattlewash; white ladies in white lace, elegant and upright under straw hats and parasols. They were in different worlds, much more so then than now. Beach boys in the early 1900 could not be stars, they could not hope to mix with the ladies or their children. But the worlds have changed. White boys today ride the waves with Boss and the gang. The mothers and the boys dance reggae in the same crowd on Fridays at the Round House, while Mrs. Gibson turns in her grave.

( TITLE: WorldSagas.com-6-Bathsheba: Life in a fishing village. AUTHOR: Ian R Clayton) 

As always, thank you for reading. I apologize for the length of this post. However, it is Easter and we can all spend some extra time relaxing. If you would like to read more of these types of post rather that having me drone on about myself, please leave a comment.  And I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. And to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right. Please continue to enjoy your Easter holiday.
Mark Phillips
Artist
Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com
Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com
Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore

L'Ultima Cena (The Last Supper) Leonardo Da Vinci

High resolution scan by http://www.haltadefinizione.com/ in collaboration with the Italian ministry of culture. 

Today is Maundy Thursday.

Good Friday, we know. And Easter most certainly. But what is Maundy Thursday? Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter, believed to be the day when Jesus celebrated his final Passover meal with his disciples. Most notably, that Passover meal was when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples in a display of humility. He then commanded them to do the same for each other.

Christ's "mandate" is commemorated on Maundy Thursday---"maundy" being a shortened form of mandatum (Latin), which means "command." It was on the Thursday of Christ's final week before being crucified and resurrected that He said these words to his disciples:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34).

The Last Supper is a one of the world's most recognizable paintings. Painted by the master himself, Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo began work on The Last Supper in 1495, (three years after Columbus "discovered" the New World), and completed it in 1498.  The painting represents the scene of the Last Supper of Jesus with his apostles, as it is told in the Gospel of John, 13:21. 

A fade, framed print of this painting hung in my Grandmother’s house when I was growing up. As a child, I understood what it meant in terms of the biblical references but only as an adult did I realize the history of the original painting. In my child’s eye this was just another "photograph" on the wall! 

Very little of the original painting remains today despite numerous restoration attempts, the last being completed in 1999. The Last Supper measures 180 in × 350 in and covers an end wall of the dining hall at the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. The opposite wall of the refectory is covered by the Crucifixion fresco by Giovanni Donato da Montorfano.

One story goes that a Prior from the monastery complained to Leonardo about the delay, enraging him. He wrote to the head of the monastery, explaining he had been struggling to find the perfect villainous face for Judas, and that if he could not find a face corresponding with what he had in mind, he would use the features of the prior who complained.

A study for The Last Supper from Leonardo's notebooks showing nine apostles identified by names written above their heads. The Last Supper specifically portrays the reaction given by each apostle when Jesus said one of them would betray him. All twelve apostles have different reactions to the news, with various degrees of anger and shock.

From left to right, according to the apostles' heads:

Bartholomew, James, son of Alphaeus, and Andrew form a group of three; all are surprised.

Judas Iscariot, Peter, and John form another group of three.

Judas is wearing green and blue and is in shadow, looking rather withdrawn and taken aback by the sudden revelation of his plan. He is clutching a small bag, perhaps signifying the silver given to him as payment to betray Jesus, or perhaps a reference to his role within the 12 disciples as treasurer. He is also tipping over the salt cellar. This may be related to the near-Eastern expression to "betray the salt" meaning to betray one's Master. He is the only person to have his elbow on the table and his head is also horizontally the lowest of anyone in the painting.

(My mother drilled into us as children that it was bad manners to place your elbows on the tables during a meal. I wonder where she learnt that?)

Peter looks angry and is holding a knife pointed away from Christ, perhaps foreshadowing his violent reaction in Gethsemane during Jesus' arrest. The youngest apostle, John, appears to swoon.

Jesus is in the exact center of the painting.

Apostle Thomas, James the Greater, and Philip are the next group of three.

Thomas is clearly upset; the raised index finger foreshadows his incredulity of the Resurrection.

James the Greater looks stunned, with his arms in the air. Meanwhile, Philip appears to be requesting some explanation.

Matthew, Jude Thaddeus, and Simon the Zealot are the final group of three.

Both Jude Thaddeus and Matthew are turned toward Simon, perhaps to find out if he has any answer to their initial questions.

Jesus is predicting that his betrayer will take the bread at the same time he does to Saints Thomas and James to his left, who react in horror as Jesus points with his left hand to a piece of bread before them. Distracted by the conversation between John and Peter, Judas reaches for a different piece of bread not noticing Jesus too stretching out with his right hand towards it (Matthew 26: 23). The angles and lighting draw attention to Jesus, whose turned right cheek is located at the vanishing point for all perspective lines; his hands are located at the golden ratio of half the height of the composition.

The painting contains several references to the number 3, which represents the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity. The Apostles are seated in groupings of three; there are three windows behind Jesus; and the shape of Jesus' figure resembles a triangle. The painting can also be interpreted using the Fibonacci series: 1 table, 1 central figure, 2 side walls, 3 windows and figures grouped in threes, 5 groups of figures, 8 panels on the walls and 8 table legs, and 13 individual figures. There may have been other references that have since been lost as the painting deteriorated.

The Last Supper has been the inspiration for many great artists over the years.

In 1955, Salvador Dalí painted The Sacrament of the Last Supper, with Jesus portrayed as blond and clean shaven, pointing upward to a spectral torso while the apostles are gathered around the table heads bowed so that none may be identified. It is reputed to be one of the most popular paintings in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

In 1986, Andy Warhol was commissioned to produce a series of paintings based on The Last Supper that were exhibited initially in Milan. This was his last series of paintings before his death.

Sculptor Marisol Escobar rendered The Last Supper as a life-sized, three-dimensional, sculptural assemblage using painted and drawn wood, plywood, brownstone, plaster, and aluminum. This work, Self-Portrait Looking at The Last Supper, (1982–84) is in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In 1988, Susan Dorothea White painted The First Supper showing 13 women from all regions of the world, with the woman in the position of Leonardo's Christ figure being an Australian aboriginal.

In 2001, Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi painted Last Supper, showing 13 mask-wearing people seated at a table strewn with watermelon fragments. The oil painting was sold for $23.3 million at Sotheby's auction on October 7, 2013, setting a new record for contemporary Asian artwork.

The Last Supper by Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli

On my computer, in my reference folder where I keep photos that I may someday paint, I have a rendition of The Last Supper, ca. 1520, by Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, called Giampietrino (active 1508–1549). This is an oil painting on canvas that is a copy of Leonardo’s work and is in the collection of The Royal Academy of Arts, London. It includes several lost details such as Christ's feet and the salt cellar spilled by Judas. Giampietrino is thought to have worked closely with Leonardo when he was in Milan. 

Maybe one day I will get the courage to attempt my own rendition of this. Maybe…

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time when I will again share with you what little I know about the world of Art, please leave a comment and share this post with your friends. And to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right. I wish you all an Easter filled with love.

"Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love." Mother Teresa

Mark Phillips
Artist

Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com

Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com

Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore

The Brothers

The Brothers 11 x 14 Acrylic Painting by Park Phillips

This is  acrylic painting done on a 11 x 14 stretched canvas. This was a commission that is accepted from a very nice lady from the island of St.Vincent. She had seen my work, (she would not tell me where!), and she showed my a Whatsapp picture on her phone and told me that she would like a painting done of her 2 sons. There both live in North America and she would love to have a painting to hang in her home in St. Vincent.

Anyone that knows me, know that I will try anything to help anyone that approached me with sincerity and I could see that she had thought long and hard about this and that it would mean a lot to her.

Remember, I told you that all she had was a whatsapp photo. the file size was 46 kb so I could not enlarge the image without distortion. I explained all of this to her and she still wanted me to try. I finally told her that the largest painting that I would attempt fro the reference would be an 11 x14 and that I could not guarantee how well I will be able to capture the image of the boys. I even told her that I will not take the usual 50% deposit that I usually take for commission. I agreed to do the work and only if she was satisfied, would she have to pay me.

It told me a solid 3 weeks of work before I realized that I could do no more with what I had to work with. I was reluctant to show her the "finished" piece but I consoled myself with the fact that I had not taken this poor woman's money so, What the hell! I brought her the painting wrapped in bubble wrap, in a box. She took it out of the package, unwrapped it, stared at it for a few seconds and then broke into the biggest grin that I had ever seen. She was like a child on Christmas morning!

Not only did she pay me but she gave me a very generous tip as well. It only goes to show that as an artist you must remember that you will very seldom please yourself and you will almost never ever please everyone, but give it your best and there will always be someone out there that will love and cherish you work.

I believe the lesson here is best summed up by this quote:-

"Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them."  John C. Maxwell

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time when I will again share a little piece of Barbados through the eyes of an artist, please feel free to leave a comment and share this post with your friends. And to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.

Mark Phillips
Artist

Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com

Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com

Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore

My Art Materials

Painting materials…where do I start. 

When I promised to share with you details of the materials I use, it sounded like a simple enough task. Now, as I look around my studio at paints, canvases, sketchbooks, pencils, spray bottles and brushes everywhere I realize that I have my need more that one article.

Winsor & Newton Acrylic Paints

Well, here goes. Firstly, paints. I use Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic paint. This is a high quality acrylic which in my opinion, delivers professional results. Technically, it is a high-end student grade paint but it gives good quality colour at an affordable price. Additionally, unlike the more expensive “professional paints”, it is available in Barbados.

I use a very basic colour palette. I started with the 3 primary colours plus black and white but I am now up to these 10 basic colours. Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Medium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Mars Black, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna. With these I can mix any colour that I may need. I am a little heavy on the blues because I do a lot of seascapes and landscapes and the combination of sea and sky is a recipe for an almost endless collection of shades and intensity of blue. I added the Burnt and raw Sienna as they are very useful in painting skin tones for portraits of dark skinned people.

My Palette

I use a Masterson Stay-wet palette. This saves me a lot of money on paint. Before I used a disposable palette or a Styrofoam plate. Both were wasteful and very bad for the environment. Acrylic paints dry very quickly. If left unattended paints become useless in about 15 minutes. The stay wet palette can keep paints usable indefinitely.

Where to start with brushes? I own a lot of brushes! But, I use only a few. Every painting that I do will involve the use of most of the following: #8 Short Flat/Bright, 3/8 Wash, #2 Bristle white Filbert, #6 Flat Short,(for the initial layout and block in), #3 Pony Hair Round, #1 Liner, #5 Round,  for detailed work and Medium fan brush for grass and foliage and a large blender brush for clouds.

Finally, I will touch on canvases. I used Stretched cotton canvases that are triple primed with gesso. I have used Fedrix, Blick and Winsor & Newton. All are very expensive in Barbados. I am now trying a less expensive one by Color Factory out of Canada. To date,I have painted the "Flying Saucer" and I am now working on "Mushroom Rock" on these canvases. So far I am really pleased with how they are performing.

"Mushroom Rock" Acrylic Painting by Mark Phillips"

Talking about "Mushroom Rock". I had promised to show you my progress." I was hesitant because it is at the "ugly" stage that all painting go through. This is when you have everything in place but you need to keep working on colors and contrast to get the visible impact that you want. I remember that this was my weakness at school. I would take a painting to the ugly stage and get disheartened because it was not looking right. Thankfully, I had an art teacher by the name of Stuart Jenkins that encouraged me to keep working until I truly thought that I could do no more. Mr. Jenkins was a very talented artist and he took the time to share his experiences with his students. It was he who pointed out that every painting has a transition point where it goes from just OK to spectacular. If... you spent the time working on it. 

Today, I have come full circle. I find it very hard to stop working on a painting. I always feel that there is more that I can do. In this, I am in good company. Leonardo da Vinci is thought by some to have begun painting the "Mona Lisa" in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy. According to Leonardo's contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, "after he had lingered over it four years, [he] left it unfinished".

Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted "never having completed a single work". He was also quoted as saying "Art is never finished, only abandoned."  

I console myself with the fact that the Guinness World Records lists the Mona Lisa as having the highest insurance value for a painting in history. On permanent display at The Louvre museum in Paris, the Mona Lisa was assessed at US$100 million on December 14, 1962. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be around US$650 million today. Not bad for an unfinished painting!

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time when I will again share a little piece of Barbados through the eyes of an artist, please feel free to leave a comment and share this post with your friends. And to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.

Mark Phillips
Artist

Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com

Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com

Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore