Graham White Collages

Under the Pier

grahamwhite — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 05:20:01 +0000

A visit to Barcelona was the catalyst for this picture. Gaudi’s coloured tiles in the Park Guell are a ceramic collage, delighting the eye as they decorate the swirling concrete shapes of the walls, seats and statues in the park. My collage has a central rectangular column and more organic sections to left and right. The finished picture has an underwater feel, looking from below the sea, past the heavy pier support, to the shimmering surface above – hence the title.

Haft Sin

grahamwhite — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:45:54 +0000

This work was a commission – and quite a challenging one. The recipient was a retired Iranian surgeon, living in London. His wife wanted a surprise present to celebrate the Iranian festival of Haft Sin at which seven symbolic objects are presented. She asked me to include some typical Iranian scenes: the mountains around Teheran and the historic mosque at Isfahan. She also wanted photos of their four granddchildren included in the collage. The ornamental lakes in the centre of the picture are entirely my invention. This is either a trompe l’oeil framed picture or a view through a window. Either way it provides a central focus and a long perspective.

Beck 2

grahamwhite — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:05:03 +0000

Another Northern landscape, this time with the boulders in the beck made of lumps of chocolate. The light brown fell in the middle is the froth on a cappuccino. Appropriately, the picture is now in a kitchen in Frankfurt, Germany owned by a friend.

Chaos Theory

grahamwhite — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:49:22 +0000

I started at the bottom, much as I did with companion piece, Festival. The order gradually breaks down and chaos reigns. But it’s quite a colourful and cheerful version of chaos – nothing too much to worry about.

Church

grahamwhite — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:41:55 +0000

I visited Romney Marsh in Kent in summer 2011 and loved the ancient churches, often standing alone in a flat, bleak landscape, surrounded only by sheep. Power lines lead from Dungeness power station on the shingle beach. John Piper loved this strange landscape and my collage pays tribute to his style.

Landslip

grahamwhite — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:35:04 +0000

There is an amazing landslip below the chalk cliffs at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. The collapsed rock has been colonised by all sorts of semi-tropical vegetation. My imagined version is composed of people, flowers and sunflower seeds. The tiny lighthouse and small triangle of sea are designed to emphasise the height of the collapsed cliff.

Rigi Blue

grahamwhite — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:42:09 +0000

This is the mountain that Turner famously painted as The Blue Rigi. Some years ago millions were raised to keep it in the UK. It’s one of the highlights of the recent Watercolour exhibition in Tate Britain. I visited Luzern in Switzerland in 2011 and took a photograph across Lake Luzern. This collage is the result

SHINGLE

grahamwhite — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:30:01 +0000

Cuckmere Haven in Sussex will soon look very different. The Environment Agency has decided to allow the estuary to revert to a natural flood plain. Who knows what will happen to the shingle beach? I wanted to record it before the changes happen. Look closely and you’ll see I’ve used shoals of fish to represent the flinty pebbles. The sky is made of blue paper squares, an artificial contrast to the natural shapes of the cliff, the beach and the sea.

CHAPEL

grahamwhite — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:26:32 +0000

The chapel is flooded with coloured light, filtered through the stained glass of the chapel, to the amazement of the cut-out couple gazing at the east window. The idea came from a sombre Protestant church in Zurich. It has five stained glass windows by Chagall and the light transforms the dreary interior into a joyous riot of colour.

ONE LINE

grahamwhite — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:02:06 +0000

Paul Klee talked about ‘taking a line for a walk’ in one of his pictures so I thought I’d do the same. I chose strongly contrasting primary and secondary colours and a cheerful sky blue background. It’s fun to trace the line round and round.