I started this painting by drawing sculpture shapes into a large canvas. I was enjoying myself, and it soon became quite busy. I used a light blue wash to tone it down, but I wanted the drawn elements to be visible underneath. The overall effect was that the painting took on the sense of a stone, so I added the large abstract flowers to bring back some life. Then I began to paint in earnest. At first, randomly, then instinctively. At this stage, I put the canvas in against the wall for a few weeks. That allowed the painting to dry, and it gave me a chance to catch up with it.
When I took it out, I was ready to gamble and lose what I had painted so far. I got absorbed in the dripping of pink rain flowing down in thick layers of oil paint. The colour change from blue to pink was a complete departure for the piece, but it felt like I was getting somewhere.
While that oil paint was drying, I went back to the sketchbook and came up with the abstract shapes you can see painted in Naples yellow. I knew I was getting close, but something was still missing. Later that week, I tried the red shape in the middle and painted the blue Berlin type drawing in the corner. It worked; the painting just clicked.
A Thousand and One Nighttimes is on view at the John Martin Gallery in London through June as part of “An Uncouth Song”
A Thousand and One Nighttimes I 120 x 180 cm
