I have never been asked to paint a portrait. But I came across a photograph of my Grandson which I was drawn to.
This inspired me to have a go to try to capture a look of sensitivity, that this now, 10 year old football fanatic had in spades when he was 3 years old.
So when I created this portrait I had the audacity to enter it into the Lester Prize. I was not selected but it now hangs in his family home; pride of place. He is definitely still a sensitive boy. But boy can he handle that ball!!
While painting this portrait of Mikki, I recalled that even though I am not a portraiture expert and have never gone down the path of some training, my aging mind recalled that my exhibition : The Leaving of Ukraine Through Bloodlands features 72 small portraits.
They were the central point of that exhibition in 2015.
These portraits were painted onto clay slabs using underglaze paints. They were inspired by photographs of refugees and their descendants-post WW11. All were fired to low temperatures.
History does not repeat itself completely, but when Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022 it was a Deja Vu moment. Russia has never looked back and learnt from mistakes of the past. In these contemporary times how could this happen?
Russia has had a huge inferiority complex towards Europe and still hasn’t shaken that image of itself.
It’s behaviour towards domination of Ukraine is still barbaric!!
Luda CERAMIC ART 