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United Kingdom
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Fine Art Paper
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8 x 12 in ($40)
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White ($80)
Leaving is a new original painting by Derbyshire based Scottish artist John McDonald. Measuring 150 by 100 cms this is a large statement piece, painted in artist quality oil paints on high quality stretched cotton canvas. Leaving is a key portrait in the West End Girls series which portrays some of the inspirational women of the West End of Derby. Each painting is a portrait which is a likeness, but which goes beyond naturalism. John's background in theatre, performance and stage direction is really evident in the West End Girls series. Each person, as the subject of the painting, becomes a character in a staged setting. Through the role in which they are cast, the emotional or spiritual subject of the painting is revealed. Leaving depicts 'Emma' wearing a tutu for a sad punk. John actually commissioned the making of a classical ballet tutu in order to create this portrait, but it is not a ballerina, or a ballet portrait. Emma is depicted with a sad or painful expression, wearing the tutu, with a pair of unlaced Doctor Martins boots. The character looks as though she herself were a kind of sculpture come to life and about to step off her plinth, right out of the painting. The palette is created in beautiful, subtle, natural tones of warm sepia and greys. The Leaving character is portrayed as though she were on stage, with two pools of light from spotlights creating the impression of wings, and, despite the evident sadness of this work, there is a playfullness in the shadows that calls to mind Peter Pan trying to catch his own shadow. In this very intimate portrait the traditional wedding dress is exchanged for a ballet tutu, with a white skirt and black bodice, and rather than satin pointe shoes the character is depicted in un-laced Dr Martins boots: signifying her independence, and self-preparation for walking away. Leaving.
Print:Giclee on Fine Art Paper
Size:8 W x 12 H x 0.1 D in
Size with Frame:13.25 W x 17.25 H x 1.2 D in
Frame:White
Ready to Hang:Yes
Packaging:Ships in a Box
Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.
Handling:Ships in a box. Art prints are packaged and shipped by our printing partner.
Ships From:Printing facility in California.
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United Kingdom
Born in a Glasgow tenement in a sectarian district, I left school with a piece of paper (no certificates) saying that I was deaf and would be best employed in a noisy environment as everyone would be similarly disadvantaged. Born under the image of Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador Dali. This huge painting in Kelvingrove art gallery seems to have an impact on me becoming an Artist in my 50s. Can I say that I spent years of my childhood evading gallery custodians and sliding along the polished floor under this painting? Unknown to me at the time, this painting by Dali, with its dynamic perspective and monumental scale, planted the seed for a love of art, and awakened the soul of this deaf kid from Drumchapel. When I first picked up a piece of charcoal as an adult and started to draw, it was a version of Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross which I created. Following a decade working in noisy environments, my real education began: in a Merseyside Unemployed Resource Centre. Training to become a Welfare Rights Officer I became hungry for education. In becoming mentally astute in the law, politics, and history that inform welfare and union work, I found, with naivety, myself. My fine art practice is informed by the dual and equal passions of my life: a passion for creative arts, and passionate campaigning for social justice. I have always been involved in the arts, through theatre, film, directing, and spoken word performance. For a long time I needed to shout, and I used performance to shout publically, about abuses and inequality I witnessed in mainstream services, to shout out for social justice, and educate on behalf of silent minorities. I am profoundly deaf and found that being involved in the arts was a way of being included. I started painting about 6 years ago on an old van that had been converted as a camper, just a plain white van that became a giant 3D canvas. I was conscious of passers by either watching or commenting, both were a challenge because of deafness but it was this situation that allowed me to be more included in my community and society in general. People liked my work and over a period of years as the van canvas was filled so was I, with confidence and more involvement with passers by, some who became friends. My painting is both the catalyst and the fruition of a personal journey towards peace.
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