When you take on a big project there are parts you love and parts you wish to avoid. It’s said if you want something done you should ask a busy person but I’m not sure I agree. Sometimes being busy helps you avoid what you don’t want to do. This is a piece I was reluctant to start.
For a long time MK had no central church until this was created. The Church of Christ the Cornerstone I love the ethos of the place. With so much division in the Christian Church its heartening to see efforts to overcome their differences. I was wary of tackling this building as a painting, uncertain that it would “fit” with the rest of the series. Especially the more traditional architectural components, Specifically that dome! But it didn’t feel right not to include it and I’m relieved that it worked. The cross looks like a cross from any direction. Almost as if to say a Christian should look like a Christian when seen from any direction. A challenging concept for even the best of us!
This painting is part of the Milton Keynes Project and features in the book. The brief: to create art inspired by the iconic structures around MK. A series of 20 paintings commissioned by Fringe Art MK Westbury
12 Paintings were exhibited at Project Space in Milton Keynes 13th June – 6th July 2012.
Coming to Milton Keynes in 1988 I found an established but still rapidly developing city. I was intrigued by the conscious aim to create something new. From the layout of the roads and redways to radical experimentation with architecture. Design and everyday living sitting side by side.
Milton Keynes dares to be itself. Not a pale imitation of traditional urban life.
As a new city it stands out and as such has a very different character from most cities in the UK. Milton Keynes developers chose a new way to be, and that’s what this series sets out to highlight. The architecture reflects that life and vision. From the dominance of buildings such as the Point to the everyday unobtrusiveness of an underpass and the shopping centre. My aim is to show the MK the residents know.
I depict buildings, not as static constructs but as frameworks around which the plays of everyday life are enacted. Buildings would not exist without people. They echo their creators both the people who design and those who build them. Likewise the people who inhabit a building are influenced by its spaces, breathing life and energy into it. The paintings are like these lives, sometimes ordered, but other times chaotic; simple but also complex; isolated and yet connected.
Materials used: Watercolour and acrylic ink on Watercolour Paper
Dimensions 40× 50× 0.2 cm (unframed) / 39× 49cm (actual image size)
Framing: This artwork is currently unframed. Images are for guidance only – Framing will be arranged in a white frame with double mat off white and dark grey. Please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery.
All paintings come with a certificate of authenticity.
Creation
The picture is painted on watercolour paper. Cathy draws the lines with masking fluid to a planned arrangement before painting it with a watercolour wash which gets covered with clingfilm. Once this is removed the picture is further developed using acrylic inks which are left to dry before the masking is removed to reveal the final picture.
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