Surrealist inspired fireplace

Oil on Canvas

20“ x 20”

This was a short project based on a close friend’s fireplace. I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks in their beautiful house full of curio, and their fireplace reminded me of the palette of some of Dorothea Tanning’s work.

Here, I was testing out my skills (and patience!) to produce things with a good level of accuracy and convincing depth. I think we will all agree the next step will be to paint the lines straighter, but I was very happy with this as a short project.

The demonesque creature hiding in the bottom right corner is borrowed from one of my favourite paintings by Tanning. It’s inclusion is also inspired by the tiny demon cat present in the house who given any opportunity would plunge face first into the oil palette.