Footprint of a Business – Original Painting
About the image:
Footprint of a Business.
Wandering the V and A is a transformative experience. Intriguing displays are all around. A remnant of architecture caught my eye. What remains of a shop frontage. I turned it into an abstract, this is the result.
No attempt at realisation was made here. Pure abstract emerges from real imagery. The feature was once shop frontage preserved at the V & A. Pinned to a wall, it forms a sculpture. The shell of its former glory, intriguing and lonely.
The view of the structure is from right below. A failed attempt at symmetry is almost lost in the chaos of the picture. Colours are at war with each other. Any attempt at structure is negated by the fickle nature of the inks. Their reticence to move in key areas or creating a flood of chaos fighting for attention and bleeding into areas where they ought not to go. Dark, swathes of ink flow into each other, to be broken down by salt and water. Sometimes obedient to the geometric lines and, elsewhere, crashing through barriers, oblivious to the will of The Artist. For you can suggest a course of action towards colour or ink, but it will always decide on its own course until it’s dried, that is. Water is relentless.
Delicate trails of ink branch off in organic tendrils, feeling their way through the uncharted lands of earlier colour washes. But what does it mean? It’s a footprint from the past, a peculiar mark on the landscape, designed and built for the purpose of commerce. It’s now disconnected from its source, open, naked, vulnerable, the bones of a one thriving business property,
A reminder that all will end, but what’s left can still be as interesting and useful to those who come later.Â
What to call it?​
Footprint of Commerce.
The Reality of Dreamers
Legacy of a Business.
I needed to ponder that one, and I settled on Footprint of a Business.
Creation: Masking fluid is painted onto watercolour paper to create an image. This is covered with a watercolour wash and covered with clingfilm. The picture is further developed using acrylic inks once the film is removed. The masking is removed after several layers are added and allowed to dry. Revealing the final picture.

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