Peaceful Places Exhibition; February 2014
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Positive feedback from visitors to the Peaceful Places exhibition at Manchester Buddhist Centre's Earth Café, inspired work on a series of canvases further exploring the mood of the collection.
This page records investigative sketches and the resulting paintings, currently under a working title of The Serenity Series. |
Sketchbook Studies
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Chong Shan Guardian of the South
The latest in The Serenity Series (complete in late May 2015), is a further exploration of a a carved wooden figure at the Chong Shan Si Buddhist Monastery in Taiyuan, China. The work is developed from both a photographic record and a pencil sketch made on site at the temple complex in August 2013.
The sculpture is one of four larger-than-life scaled figures that are often represented at Buddhist temples depicting the Four Heavenly Kings. Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng (this deity's Chinese name) is the King of the South and 'one who causes good growth of roots', which seems particularly relevant for a spring painting! Associated with the colour blue, which I have tried to emphasise in the work, his symbolic weapon is a sword that he uses to protect the Dharma.
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Chong Shan Guardian of the South, Acrylic and Collage on Canvas, May 2015
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Hangzhou Magnolia, Acrylic on Canvas Board, February 2015
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Hangzhou Magnolia
Returning to the unedited simplicity of Tamana Lotus (below), the first painting in the Serenity Series, this piece is developed from a photograph taken a little earlier than most in the Peaceful Places photographs.
The image used as a source for this painting was taken during an educational visit in March 2011, on a trip to the grounds of the silk museum in Hangzhou. Hangzhou is famous for its West Lake, and is a famously scenic area of Zhejiang Province. I always enjoyed looking at this photo and so it seems appropriate to return to it almost four years later for inclusion as part of this series. |
Heart Sutra; Go Beyond
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This, the fifth painting developed from the Peaceful Places series, depicts the entrance arch at the 'Big Bell' Buddhist temple in Tamana, Japan. The text on the arch refers to the Heart Sutra, one of the most important Buddhist mantras, which is translated by the 14th Dali Lama as “go, go, go beyond, go thoroughly beyond, and establish yourself in enlightenment.”
The painting also includes visual references to designs that feature frequently in surface pattern on Persian textile and ceramic pieces, themselves inspired by Chinese representations of lotus blossoms. |
Heart Sutra; Go Beyond, Acrylic on Canvas Board, January 2015
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Yongzou Lotuses, Acrylic on Canvas, October 2014
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Yongzou Lotuses
The fourth painting of the series is titled Yongzou Lotuses. It is composed from photographs taken at Yongzuo Temple and pencil drawings made on site at Chong Shan Si Buddhist Monastery, both in Taiyuan, China.
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Acrylic on Canvas Board, August 2014
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Tamana Buddha with Rainbow Lotus
This piece was the third to be completed in the new series of paintings. It is based on a 2013 photograph of a large, stone statue of the Buddah at the 'Big Bell' temple in Tamana, Japan.
The decorative detail on the right of the composition is an interpretation of designs that feature frequently in surface pattern on Persian textile and ceramic pieces. The particular design I developed this from was in fact based upon Chinese decorative arts and is an interpretation of the lotus flower. The sketchbook page below demonstrates some of the original research into this. 
Sketchbook Research Page
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Tamana Lotus
Acrylic on Canvas Board, March 2014
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Peaceful Places 3
The original from the Peaceful Places series; a lotus flower growing at a Buddhist temple in Tamana, Japan, July 2013
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Impression Taiyuan, the second in the series and completed in May 2014, was developed from photographs taken at Yongzuo Temple and pencil drawings made on site at Chong Shan Si Buddhist Monastery in Taiyuan, China.
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Impression Taiyuan
Acrylic on Canvas, May 2014
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