106. Suggestion
350mm x 1000mm
Interactive Acrylic on Canvas
£230
Exhibited at the members' exhibition, Eagle Gallery, Mon 16th April- Thu 10th May 2018
Exhibited at "The Butterfly and St. Paul's", Eagle Gallery, Sat 11th - Sat 18th May 2019
Inspiration struck in one of the WCs at Costa Coffee at the St. John’s retails park, Bedford. The setting – crisp lighting, pristine deep red tiles and the general feel of quality and cleanliness. What stood out to me was the sticker applied to a wall tile directly behind the washbasin tap which I have depicted in my painting here.
“Now wash your hands” shouted out from the peeling plastic; not “We would like to suggest you should clean your hands” as the polite setting might infer. The cheapness of this communique was also at odds with the surroundings; If the message was so important and core to the space surely it should have been integrated into the design better. – Perhaps etched at the bottom of the mirror or a whole tile with the wording in a style appropriate to the room.
I accept that this common occurrence in Britain might stem from allocation of work in the room’s creation. Perhaps an architect or interior designer would have done the fit out, with others later tasked with this signage. It’s here where contradictory levels of thought or budget creep in. So, I know why it happens, but that doesn’t make it right.
I wanted to highlight this concept but am not sure that I in any way achieved this. On reflection, a visual depiction of the scene that I have described above, would work better. I was, however, drawn to the copying of the sign as a painting. I enjoy painting typography and recreating it so much larger would draw attention to this oddly forceful instruction. Indeed, I soon titled the piece “Suggestion” and so the concept drifted towards an ironic take on the lack of subtlety inherent in the sign.
Of course, big messages as art seems to be the in thing at the moment. Here in Luton a large piece of art by Mark Titchner called “The Beacon” relays the somewhat aggressive message “If you can dream it you must do it” on a large wall sized light box toward commuters heading between the train station and the town centre. After completion of my piece, I discover that Tracey Emin has created a neon handwritten message over St. Pancras Station in London “I want my time with you”. In both cases I feel “Now wash your hands” would have been of interest to both locations. I guess aspirational wordage will always be commissioned over other stuff.
If I gained nothing else from this exercise it is a greater understanding of paint colours. My lack of extensive art school education sometimes leaves me jealous of folk who know exactly what each colour can do and can name them with authority. I’m a bit more shove a bit of this colour in with that without much science. I feel I have achieved a better relationship with “Cobalt Blue Hue” now having used so much of it. I’d googled images of this sort of sign and this cobalt blue seemed the most commonly used but by no means a standard. My other colours were “Titanium White” and “Toning Grey Mid” for the edgesd of the canvas.
I was strongly tempted to recreate the air bubbles and torn edges of the original stickers. (I was using both loo’s stickers as reference by this point.) In the final mix I liked the purity of a clean sign and the simpler message won through. Hope that you like this piece.
Interactive Acrylic on Canvas
£230
Exhibited at the members' exhibition, Eagle Gallery, Mon 16th April- Thu 10th May 2018
Exhibited at "The Butterfly and St. Paul's", Eagle Gallery, Sat 11th - Sat 18th May 2019
Inspiration struck in one of the WCs at Costa Coffee at the St. John’s retails park, Bedford. The setting – crisp lighting, pristine deep red tiles and the general feel of quality and cleanliness. What stood out to me was the sticker applied to a wall tile directly behind the washbasin tap which I have depicted in my painting here.
“Now wash your hands” shouted out from the peeling plastic; not “We would like to suggest you should clean your hands” as the polite setting might infer. The cheapness of this communique was also at odds with the surroundings; If the message was so important and core to the space surely it should have been integrated into the design better. – Perhaps etched at the bottom of the mirror or a whole tile with the wording in a style appropriate to the room.
I accept that this common occurrence in Britain might stem from allocation of work in the room’s creation. Perhaps an architect or interior designer would have done the fit out, with others later tasked with this signage. It’s here where contradictory levels of thought or budget creep in. So, I know why it happens, but that doesn’t make it right.
I wanted to highlight this concept but am not sure that I in any way achieved this. On reflection, a visual depiction of the scene that I have described above, would work better. I was, however, drawn to the copying of the sign as a painting. I enjoy painting typography and recreating it so much larger would draw attention to this oddly forceful instruction. Indeed, I soon titled the piece “Suggestion” and so the concept drifted towards an ironic take on the lack of subtlety inherent in the sign.
Of course, big messages as art seems to be the in thing at the moment. Here in Luton a large piece of art by Mark Titchner called “The Beacon” relays the somewhat aggressive message “If you can dream it you must do it” on a large wall sized light box toward commuters heading between the train station and the town centre. After completion of my piece, I discover that Tracey Emin has created a neon handwritten message over St. Pancras Station in London “I want my time with you”. In both cases I feel “Now wash your hands” would have been of interest to both locations. I guess aspirational wordage will always be commissioned over other stuff.
If I gained nothing else from this exercise it is a greater understanding of paint colours. My lack of extensive art school education sometimes leaves me jealous of folk who know exactly what each colour can do and can name them with authority. I’m a bit more shove a bit of this colour in with that without much science. I feel I have achieved a better relationship with “Cobalt Blue Hue” now having used so much of it. I’d googled images of this sort of sign and this cobalt blue seemed the most commonly used but by no means a standard. My other colours were “Titanium White” and “Toning Grey Mid” for the edgesd of the canvas.
I was strongly tempted to recreate the air bubbles and torn edges of the original stickers. (I was using both loo’s stickers as reference by this point.) In the final mix I liked the purity of a clean sign and the simpler message won through. Hope that you like this piece.