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portraits
OIL & PENCIL COMMISSIONS
rutherford: painter, artist, commissioned oil paintings
oh beanz
January 2022
Oil on wood panel
40cm dia
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This painting was created during lockdown 2021 and completed in 2022. It's a study of a floral arrangement put together by a very talented florist friend mr.co.flowerhouse (check out his amazing wreaths!). I just love the joyfulness of the saturated colours and fun beans can.
PRINTS: £50 each (limited run of 15 signed prints A3, on archival paper unframed)
o how albert missed his hair
January 2022
Oil on wood panel
30cm dia
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Anatomy study with hydrangeas, completed in Jan, 2022.
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Albert is the (resin) skull that sits in my studio. I've been doing a few little studies of him and each time I imagine who he was, and perhaps what he might miss from his previous life. I'm not sure why I've decided he's a He... one to ponder.
detail
dry january
January 2022
Oil on wood panel
35 x 45cm
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full painting
Self Portrait completed in Jan, 2022.
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Dry January is just so boring isn't it? I know, it's meant to be super healthy for us but, wow it drags on doesn't it?
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Backlit with a cool natural light coming from the window, and front lit with a warm candle, creating some nice colour tensions on the piece.
tallulah's view
April - August 2020
Oil on wood panel
61 x 61cm
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Self Portrait completed in lockdown, 2020.
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Talking to friends about how they felt about being in isolation (in April/May - mid lockdown), most said they felt a mix of crashing highs and lows and in between that, a grey never-ending boredom, all in the same day. This self portrait is a mix of those feelings. On one hand it looks like I’m raising my head up to the sky and praying for it all to just bloody end. The frizzy hair and the eyebags say it all. But also, the strong downlight and the circular mirror behind me makes the whole scene look rather uplifting! In actuality, this is an image of me checking my ceiling at home for a potential leak after my daughters bath time. For me, that's also a reflection of lockdown... having so much time on our hands we are always scrutinising ourselves and our surroundings at a time that seemed like it would never end.
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The title Tallulah's View (of me) is because my daughter took the original photo after we gave her my old digital camera. This image resonated with me because I forget at times that she sees things differently than I do. While I'm scrutinising the ceiling, she's scrutinising me.
detail
detail
original photo
sofie & piano
May 2020
Oil on canvas
43 x 53cm
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Sofie is one of my nieces living in Sweden. This image is of her playing with a toy piano in her bedroom cupboard.
She sits quietly in this tiny space, resting perhaps after a moment of busy play with her big sister.
The scale of the piano intrigues me and raises questions of scale in Sofie herself, a little like Alice in Wonderland.
hats in bloomsbury
March 2020
Oil on canvas
80 x 80cm
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This work was inspired by a scene I captured outside a gentleman's outfitters in Bloomsbury on a sunny day in North London.
A girl passed by and paused for only a couple of minutes on the bench by the window, and it all came together.
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I find a few things interesting here - the masculine theme of the shop with it's dark colours and bicycle out front, are from another era. While the girl and her bright skirt and metallic water bottle are both contemporary and feminine. The pink and decorative flat above the shop also contrast with the shops dark front. The open window is a sneak peek into an entirely different narrative and a bit of a nod to Edward Hopper.
I started this work at the beginning of 2020 and I had to stop in a hurry due to Covid-19 and our studios closing. I've purposely left it unfinished with some elements only having had a first pass.
video
detail
detail