Artwork: Lovers I, II and III

Lovers I - a joy to paint from the beginning, in fact more pleasurable than I expected. Also the painting that the rest of the group felt had the most harmonious composition and the greatest unity. I've nicknamed it: two tadpoles swimming into the sunset - although it could be two comets under an arched sky.

Lovers II - a nightmare! My plan of whirling shapes resulted in 2 separated irreconcilable spheres, which I simply couldn't get to form a coherent painting. I tried to solve it be dissolving it all into a kind of nothingness until I eventually arrived at this forceful penetrative symbol. Figures! Nicknames for this one - "Dark Matter" or simply "Kaboosh!"

Lovers III - very pleased with the basic shape and the creative tension/harmony between the lovers. I wasn't expecting it to turn so overtly yin and yang but really love it for that.

Artwork – Preliminary inspirations for paintings Lovers I, II and III

I’ve recently made a scrapbook for a new tattoo – a collection of photos of tattoos I liked and some text about the specific features of each one that I find particularly appealing. I left my pages with the tattoo artist to design something unique for me to curve around my hip. Hopefully all will be well, she’s got it and it’ll be gorgeous (after the pain). So it seemed both fun and more than appropriate to do something not dissimilar for the paintings I’m planning for this painting holiday I’m about to embark on. These aren’t of course simple paintings, they are about real people and real meetings, so even making a collection of key words for each painting felt rather insightful. I think little explanation is needed, so here they are:
Lovers I

• Holding, carrying, embracing, supporting, caring
• Stability, warmth, the base, the home, open-heartedness, generosity, gentleness, honesty, tolerance, compersion, equality
• The wife, the carer, the kindred spirit
• The husband, the rock, the shelter, the son, the haven
• Colours lying alongside each other, as if spooning, holding each other respectfully. Pale pink and sea green

Lovers II

• Swirling, tempestuous, sensuous, fierce, unpredictable, confusing, enmeshed, compelling different, harsh, edgy
• Danger, adventure, exploration, passion, fear, anger, hunger, desire, addiction, dark/light, power, imbalance, force of nature
• The lover, the whore, the slut, the slave girl, the demon angel, the object
• The lover, the master, the seducer, inflictor of pain, the gambler, the adventurer, the other, the subject
• White background, fuchsia red/pink and black, balls of colour that swirl into each other and spiral into the sky

Lovers III

• Independent, mysterious, partly unformed, wispy, random, tentative, intrigued, circling each other, some swirling, some holding
• Warmth, care, force of nature, claws and carresses, stillness and chaos, both separate and entwined
• Two sprites, two sisters, two lovers, two prowling cats, may curl up together or growl, power switching from one to the other
• Less familiar and compelling than the other two, attraction strong but still circling each other tentatively, potential for either of the other two forms
• Colours and shapes not quite clear, ma not even be able to paint this yet. Thinking of spectrum of colours pink, fuchsia, blood red and black for me, same for her but with different emphasis. I start pink, she starts red, two globes of colour more separate but with swirly as well as holding connections, vague yin yang or cancerian shape, together forming circle