Work in Progress

Last week I moved into a new studio in Kendal - a small market town on the edge of the English Lake District. I am now part of a community of artists called The Green Door.

This is my studio - small but perfectly formed!

I left Corfu a few months ago with a pile of unfinished work. Since then I have completed seven new works, most of which are shown below

The above landscape is done with liquified, bone-black powder and is one of several in this medium

This 'fashion plate' (above) was done some time ago but has been enhanced and re-cropped, making it more compact

If you were beginning to think that I had abandoned colour then fear not - as this  Montaigne Noir landscape (above) shows.

My interest in Greek mythology persists - as in this study for a larger painting of Persephone 'trapped' in her wintry hell below ground, in the kingdom of her seducer, Pluto

This little collage of plant forms I finished this morning (Sunday). The plant itself is painted using gesso and applied with a palette knife. It creates an effective, 'embossed' effect when stuck onto a matt backdrop of bone-black

This photo/mixed-media collage uses real gold powder suspended in varnish to give it that high gloss appearance. A great deal of work goes into the detail, much of which is created using a technique invented by the Surrealists

This landscape (above) is called 'Homage to Max Ernst' and includes a detail from one of Ernst's celebrated paintings

I particularly like this painting (above), not least because of its mix of colour and black and white

This image (above) of a female jester or clown was actually painted some years ago but has been re-cropped and enhanced - to greater effect, I hope!

Another small collage, with photographic elements 'embedded' into a hand-drawn landscape. This work is unfinished

This too is unfinished. 

I think I will hand colour the figures. Watch this space for further progress!

My studio is one of five in a large room.
There are three printers, one 'abstract' painter, a photographer and myself. The entrance to my space is on the right in the above photo

After months of trying to work on my kitchen table it is good to get back into a proper studio - even if it is tiny!

MIKE HEALEY