Illuminated Paintings for Loulou's ~ Robin Birley's new Mayfair club

The top two paintings are my latest illuminated paintings commissioned by Robin Birley and Rifat Ozbek for Loulou"s ~ Robin's new private members' nightclub in Mayfair which opened in June. It is in the basement of 5 Hertford Street in Shepherd Market.
The LED lights are programmed to gracefully slide across the canvas and subtly change colour. These works hang opposite each other either side of the dance floor, a room inspired by a Tibetan temple. Rifat oversaw the interior of the club which is a feast of juxtaposed colour, textiles and all out sumptuousness.

The lightning painting is one of my own pieces, currently in my studio in Dollis Hill. Please email me at: trickypainter@gmail.com  if you wish to make an appointment to view my work.

The Water Element

"Dying to Live, Wishing to Fulfil" oil & mixed media on canvas, 153 x 183 cm 2004

I can't believe this painting is 8 years old. I remember so clearly the impact of the messages I was downloading for this. As it transpired to be a prophetic painting. It also informed the larger painting I went on to do called the "Wishfulfilling Tree With Auspicious Offerings"  in 2005 (scroll down to see this in an earlier post).
I started with the island, which apparently resembles Koh Phi Phi in Thailand.  I'd never been there and had never seen a picture of it, but became curious about it.  On completing the island, I remember I was then going to paint it suspended in beautiful clouds...but here's where the message kicked in. I was guided by my inner voice to paint the island embedded in a choppy sea. That wasn't how I'd planned it as my head wanted the clouds. It was probably the early stages of my on-going obsession with painting clouds. However, I followed the guidance and painted in a wild sea. I was aware of a powerful feeling of foreboding, and I kept imagining something terrible had happened on the island, a strong sense of death was lingering.
That's when I added 13 little skulls bobbing on the high seas. The people  had unfortunately not made it to the wishfulfilling tree which offered salvation and an end to their suffering.
On reflection I realised this painting contained all five elements of the universe: Earth, Sky, Fire, Water and Air. Without any one of them, the universe would cease to exist. The knowledge surrounding them runs deep. When the five elements are in balance, we are able to function at our highest level as human beings. When we are out of balance with the elements, disaster can strike. The water element is nurturing energy, but when out of balance it can cause tsunamis, floods and hurricanes.

On December 26th 2004 one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history occurred in the form of a colossal earthquake in the Indian Ocean. This triggered a series of devastating tsunamis hitting Indonesia the hardest, followed by Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The waves reached over 30 foot high, killing at least 230,000 people in 14 different countries and it prompted a worldwide humanitarian response.

I completed this painting one week before the tsunami happened. On the 29th of December I was boarding a plane to Bangkok, Thailand, with the image of this painting not far behind me.






Waterfall of the Whispering Dragon

"Waterfall of the Whispering Dragon" oil on canvas, 153 x 183 cm, 2008

This painting is inspired by both western landscape and eastern mythology. The boulders and rocks were inspired entirely by a trip to Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute. There is an amazing shoreline which is full of these powerful rocks which vibrate with colour and texture. I am not too hot on geology but I believe the rocks are scarred by the ice-age. They have all manner of encrusted seaweeds and slimy algae growing on them and I happily studied them for hours, whilst under the watchful gaze of half a dozen seals.
The waterfall was inspired by a picture in National Geographic of an Icelandic waterfall.
The waterfall is a very dramatic force of nature; it is full of grace and beauty yet so wild and untameable. They are persistant as an entity but in constant flux. The best place to meditate is by a waterfall as the noise will dissolve the chatty mind and their presence is very uplifting and healing. In Japan there is a Shinto ritual called Misogi, where ascetics stand underneath a waterfall for purification. Ouch. Waterfalls are one of the basic motifs of Chinese landscape painting, and it seems as if I have adopted them into my own personal symbology.....unwittingly, they mysteriously appear in almost every painting I have done of recent years. This is the same for the water element. Perhaps I am constantly needing to cleanse my inner landscape.
Now to the dragon. Why did he appear? I started this painting before I went to China, and completed it on my return. A message came through for me to paint a dragon at the foot of the waterfall. I do love the aesthetic of the Chinese dragons, all curves and colours and mystery. I knew that the dragon was a predominant symbol of auspicious power in ancient Chinese folklore. I didn't know that they were the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls. The dragon overcomes obstacles until success is his. He is energetic, decisive, optimistic, intelligent and ambitious. I was happy that he found his way into this painting. You will perhaps be able to see a suggestion of The Great Wall of China creeping into the bottom of the canvas.
Whilst I was painting the dragon, a curious thing happened....he started whispering to me; it was rather ethereal and quite surreal and it made my brush strokes very gentle and delicate. This was the inspiration for the title.

Cosmic Trigger

Full Moon - illuminated painting 153 x 183 cm 2007

"The Floating World" - illuminated painting  153 x 183 2008

"The Forgotten Land" - illuminated painting 153 x 183 cm 2008

"Temple Retreat" Illuminated painting 153 x 183 cm 2007

Illuminated Waterfall Painting 153 x 183 cm 2010

I started working on illuminated paintings in 2006. I first showed these at Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst's house in London in 2008. There is quite a cosmic story that unfolded in my studio, marking the birth of the idea. Here Antony Leyland, co-founder of Big Sky Studios and Blank collective, describes succinctly the course of events:

Katy Lynton’s work wilfully yet playfully sidesteps the mainstream of 20^th Century Art History, all its conceptual obsessions and preoccupations with abstraction. Instead it links directly to the romantic traditions of both Occidental and Oriental cultures, finding emotional, symbolic and mystical meaning in the natural world.

These links can be traced back to the ancient Japanese religion of Shinto, in which all objects, animal, vegetable and mineral are understood to possess souls, and no distinction is made between spirit and matter, life and afterlife. Once Japan’s state religion, this belief system runs through the work of artists such as Sesshu, Hokusai and Hiroshinge, whom Katy cites as some of  her most important influences.

These artists’ use of colour, design and self-symbolism imbue the Nature with a meaning incomprehensible to the west’s rational and dualistic worldview. A new direction in Katy’s work resulted from an event which, from the rational perspective, would be considered accidental; but from the animistic universe within which Katy operates, can only be seen as divine intervention; at 5.10pm, on the 17^th October 2006, Katy was participating in a universal consciousness event known as the Cosmic Trigger. At that moment, the peak hour , Katy sat down to meditate when her work in progress inexplicably fell off the wall, ripping its canvas violently against a table. Initial feelings of anger and betrayal gave way to a moment of literal enlightenment, when on picking up the canvas from the floor, a light shining through the ruined canvas from behind transformed the painting into something timeless and magical, and redirected the course of Katy’s work.

This new series of works combines traditional oil paint and canvas with lighting and electronics to create theatrical and hypnotic installations. Serenely timed cross-phasing of front and backlights transfigure raw canvas and partial gestures into full-blown visionary hallucinations. The light shining through the canvas, through the pigment, punctures the superficial to summon forth the inner life force of all things.

These works aim to disarm our intellect and revive our intuitive connection with a deeper world; a world in which the personal and universal are merged, a world which is free from contamination, totally pure, clear and present.

The exhibition was a success and all of the paintings sold. The waterfall painting was a bit later and can still be viewed in my studio along with "Searching for the Pink Cloud". Please contact me for an appointment if you wish to view the paintings.

Searching for the Pink Cloud

"Searching for the Pink Cloud" (by day) 153 x 183 cm, oil on canvas, 2011

"Searching for the Pink Cloud" (by night) oil on canvas with internal lighting system, 153 x 183 cm, 2011

This painting was an experiment to see how the landscape would change from day to night. The floating mountainous landscape, influenced by the Far East has a mystical quality by day and takes on more of a romantic feel by night. The predominant colours are green and blue with the pink cloud providing an unexpected burst of energy. At night it glows brilliantly within the relatively moody palette of the canvas.

Wishfulfilling Tree with Auspicious Offerings

Wishfulfilling Tree with Auspicious Offerings- oil on canvas , 183 x 153 cm, 2005

Tree Spirits (detail)

Although I completed this painting in 2005, it still remains one of my favourite pieces and I have managed to hold onto it even though it was hanging on a collector's wall for a few weeks once but I decided to withdraw the sale (which was quite a tough decision) as I couldn't imagine it being anywhere other than with me. It is like that with some paintings. The tree represents knowledge and wisdom, strength and growth while the 7 exquisite blue lotus flowers symbolise the victory of the spirit over wisdom, intelligence and knowledge. They also represent the perfection of nature, beauty, purity and spiritual awakening. I had just come back from Thailand when I painted this, having been inspired by their reverence of the tree which graces many a temple courtyard. They lovingly wrap the trunks with exotic material and place all manner of deities at the base. The deities in this painting are all personal to me. Ganesh of course is a well loved Hindu deity, who symbolises the Remover of Obstacles, patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. The Blue Angel (a fictional character) is followed by the Buddha in seated meditation, a pencil drawing of a cat-bear with flying fat angels above his head, a Victorian wooden rabbit with a dog which belonged to my Grandmother, and Little Tree (another fictional character) with a mass of hair made from grass. The tiger was inspired after a trip to a temple near Burma where the monks take in orphaned tigers - a truly magical place. Then I added the most Ancient Superman, the Hindu deity Hanuman. He symbolically stands for pure devotion, complete surrender and absence of ego (or lower self).  Next to him is a wooden sculpture which also belonged to my Grandmother, I love this piece, it is really simple and the leaning stance of the figure is genius. Next up is Ronald McDonald, (note the arrows in his chakras) whom I found to be quite sinister with his hands in prayer. Finally I threw in a peacock which is a symbol of immortality because the ancients believed the peacock had flesh that didn't decay after death. It also has many other meanings including the all-seeing eye in the feathers (rather like the all-seeing eye in Egyptian, Greek and Roman mythology) warding off evil spirits. I am loath to sell this painting but if the right buyer came along, who knows I might reluctantly decide to part with it. I would consider doing a personalised version if someone was interested.

Collages ~ now available to buy as prints

"The Mighty Revelation" collage on paper, 229 x 305 mm

"Act 1, Scene 1: Duplicity" - collage on paper,  229 x 305 mm,  2011

"Shady Portal" - collage on paper, 229 x 305 mm, 2011

"The One That Got Away" - collage on paper,  229 x 305mm, 2010

"Speak to the Earth, and it Will Teach You, or Let the Fish of the Sea Inform You" - collage on paper,  2011

-

"One is All, All is One" - collage on paper, 229 x 305 mm, 2010

"Weary Time Traveller" - collage on paper, 229 x 305 mm,  2011

"Happy Ending" -  collage on paper,  229 x 305 mm, 2010

"Time Was Away and Somewhere Else" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2010

"Midnight Marauders" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"Giving Truth an Outing" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"Cheetah Chiquita of Shinto Falls" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2010

"Garden of Unearthly Delights" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"The Persistent Illusion" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2009

"This is not Death, it is something safer" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"I Drove This Car all over Los Angeles And Fell in Love (with the car)" 2009

"Calmer Cobra" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2010

"God's Little Messenger" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"The Painful process of Growth" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"Searching For Amelia" collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2009

"Mellifluous on The High Seas" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"The World is Too Much For Us" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2009

"Raphael's Angel of Abundance" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"Ask The Animals and They Will Teach You" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"Aham Prema" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2011

"Delicious Solitude" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2010

"Things Are Looking Rosie" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2010

"The Last Romantics" - collage on paper, 209 x 305 mm, 2009

 These collages are now available to buy as limited edition digital giclee prints using archival ultrachrome inks. They are printed on Hahnemuehle German Etching paper, a heavyweight (310gsm) fine art paper which is slightly textured.  They will be available in A1 (841 x 594 mm),  (A3 (420 x 297 mm) or A2 (420 x 297 mm). I am currently doing small editions of 35. Please contact me at: trickypainter@gmail.com for prices and orders.

I have been making collages for the last 3 years and I really enjoy the process as they come to me quite effortlessly; what I find is that a universal visual language seems to continuously crop up from the unfathomable depths of my psyche. This could be likened to Jung's observation of the Collective Unconscious, where certain archetypes seem to reoccur in the form of dreamlike imagery that is derivative of ancient myths, folklore, religion etc. 

These collages provide me with material that has tapped into a surreal, mystical, dreamy and childlike aspect of my psyche. It feels like they could hold some kind of hidden message or guidance from my subconscious just as we have that opportunity with our dreams. We are all co-creators of the Universe and now, more than ever, we need to channel and download this continual stream of information that seems to be flowing forth offering us an opportunity to expand and heal from within. Interesting times.......

Huangshan, pandas and whales

"Turning his Back on all Earthly Desires"  136 x 205 cm. oil on canvas. 2010

Panda (as Buddah)

Rainbow (detail)

"Dreamtime Encounter with a Whale" 136 x 205 cm.oil on canvas. 2009

close-up of whale and boats

close-up of island

"Turning his back on all Earthly Desires" is a painting influenced by my travels in China in 2008. I had originally planned on taking the train from Beijing to Lhasa in Tibet. The 3,750 km trip covers 1,110 km over the world's highest Qinghai-Tibet railway. I had booked the ticket for the 12th May 2008. I was very excited, only to have my dream shattered as during this time there had been riots in Tibet which had started as anti-Chinese protests (in the run up to the Olympics in Beijing) which then turned to violence and hence Tibet closed its borders to all press and travellers. In hindsight, the riots and consequent ban of entry to Tibet saved my life as my train ticket was booked on the day of the devastating Chinese earthquake in the Sichuan province killing 70,000 people and leaving 18,000 missing.

My reasons for visiting Tibet had been totally fuelled by the desire to immerse myself in the beautiful, wild landscape of this amazing country and actually feel as though I was inside one of my paintings. So I was left slightly devastated, but there was still China to explore and I headed to the Yellow Mountains(Huangshan) - a famous mountain range in the Anhui province, enlisted as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990.  It has been the frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and poetry,  and it's not difficult to understand why. This landscape had me feeling like I had arrived in Nirvana, it is breathtakingly beautiful and serene with hundreds of peaks and thousands of ravines. It is like being in a magical fairyland....the painting captures this feeling, with endless peaks, clouds and waterfalls. I wanted to celebrate this magnificent landscape and who better to overlook the composition but the laughing Buddha himself. You can spot him in the far top left of the painting, disguised as a rock...infact he appeared quite mysteriously without any intention on my part. The giant panda, on the other hand being a symbol of China, was a deliberate comment on how the effect of industrialization and growth continues to endanger this beloved creature. Believed to have come into this world over 600,000 years ago, now only about 1,000 pandas are left in the wild in reserves set aside by the government. Adding to the cost of their homes, poachers have killed off thousands and continue to do so as the price of panda fur rises (a panda hide can fetch up to $200,000 in Japan). As their population in the wild continues to decrease, these wonderful mammals may not have much time left which is very saddening and perhaps another negative symbol of the old world versus the new. On a happier note, can you spot the rainbows in the painting? There are two and they were very tricky to paint!


"Dreamtime Encounter with a Whale" was again influenced by my trip to China. It was actually inspired by a dream I had. In the dream, I was in a boat, quite close to the shore of a big city (perhaps one in China). I looked over towards another, bigger boat and thought, "hmmm, I'd rather be on that boat" (is the grass greener?), so without giving it much thought I jumped out of mine and dived into the ocean only to come face to face with a colossal whale. It was an absolutely lucid encounter, and quite unforgettable. I swam the length of the whale and then we looked into each others eyes, it was very profound. I was very upset to see that the whale had red eyes, as if he/she was suffering in some way, or perhaps giving me a warning? In hindsight I think the whale had swam inland too far and was in danger. I will never forget this encounter, it was a truly fantastical experience.

Lonely Hunters

Lonely Hunters collage 22.9cm x 30.5cm 2010

Lonely Hunters oil on canvas 153 x 183 cm 2012

moody sky (detail)

starry sky (detail)

dark horseman crossing the river (detail)

owl (detail)

hunter on Pegasus (detail)

dark horseman (detail)

monkey hunter (detail)

"Lonely Hunters" is one of my collages which I thought would work really well as a large painting. I pretty much followed the original composition and it was really interesting to see how the painting developed along with some unforeseen changes. This is my latest oil on canvas, which I finished about a week ago.

The main horseman demanded to be riding Pegasus, and appears to be breaking out from the moody sky and leaping into the light. I particularly like the way the sky turned out, it gives the painting depth. The mountains had to be green, red just didn't work for me. I love green, it is my favourite colour and the one I always reach for first. I have been using green as my main colour for 7 years now and I find it so expansive. I associate it with rebirth, regeneration and growth amongst many other things. It feels very peaceful and calming to work with. Green is also the colour associated with the heart chakra which serves to remind me that I continue to work from this place, the healing continues.....

I decided to put a third owl into the mix and play around with the scale of the creatures. The river has movement and the breaking wave confuses it a little as it also could be perceived as the ocean. 

I feel this painting is very significant of the times we are living in. The only thing that is certain is that everything is in flux, there is constant movement. We can choose to flow with life and ride the waves, or resist it stay in our fear. The eggs are symbolic of new ideas, new beginnings, rebirth. This painting is about tapping into your inner wisdom, conquering your fears and experiencing the Great Shift in consciousness which is happening on an epic level. Wake up everybody! - it's 2012......the Big Awakening. Time to step it up, embrace the changes and stay very present, it is an amazing time to be alive on this beautiful planet.

Here is a simple but poignant Native American story:

A native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt.
He said "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one". The grandson asked him, "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?"...The grandfather answered, "The one I feed".


Please give me some feedback by email if you have time. Thanks!