Acrylic paintings, Hong Kong
“Opera”. Acrylic on 41 cms circular wooden board 2011 Chinese Opera. The painting above was from a classical concert at Government house pre handover I sat behind the woman with the perfectly groomed hair with the two big combs that were slowly falling out but she didn’t seem to notice. Often I go back to old sketch books & collage together different images to tell a story, the Chinese Opera singer & the two Chinese women near the performer were taken years later but they seemed to work well together.
“Route 31 minibus”. Acrylic on 41 cms circular wooden board 2011 The mini bus system in Hong Kong is such a quick way of getting around the number 31 is one of my regular routes though I always try to sit near the driver as they dont have a bell so you have to shout out when you want them to stop & I always feel too self conscious hearing my “Gweilo” foreign voice yelling “neeedoo mmgoy” or next stop please! So this painting above is the view from his large rear mirror. The tissue box attached above the driver is the latest tulip design from my local ‘Parkin’ Shop’ store when I made the painting.
My Hair Lady, Private commission, note many previous sketch references that have been included.
Stanley Market, Flower stall by the Banyan tree, 2019
“Handover Party 1997”. Acrylic on 41 cms circular wooden board 2011 The Handover of Hong Kong in 1997 of British rule back to China was another excuse for parties all over town. Above image is from the then Regent Hotel, where every floor was lavish with food & people dressed in Chinese English outfits. The waiters started the evening in Union Jack jackets that after midnight were reversed into the red & yellow starred Chinese flag. The lady in red with the sparkly dress was in the queue waiting to use the bathroom, I moved her to walk past the leering man smoking a cigar holding two glasses of red wine, behind his trail of cigar smoke is a guy dribbling the juice from his oyster
“Tai Tai’s”. Acrylic on 41 cms circular wooden board 2011 Tai Tais are a favourite subject of mine, I adore the Tang dynasty figurines of the affluent large women of their day. They have featured in a lot of my images & sculptures, I have tried to make my own modern version. These two ladies if it was real would have been at an art preview. The word “Tai Tai” in Chinese is the word for wife or directly translates into big big or too much… though modern day Tai-Tais are a lot skinnier, the woman on the right is taken from images in HK glossy magazines, the society sections with all the little squares of the glamourous people, one of my greatest sources for reference material!
A mischievous Client who commissioned this piece, Golden Shower, Char Sui restaurant
Lantern Stall, 12 Acrylic paintings were made for the MTR bas reliefs, each panel had a highly detailed painting which was later used as reference to turn into 3D clay reliefs…. see MTRC section