SCISSOR ARCHES I, WELLS CATHEDRAL (original acrylic painting (SOLD), limited edition signed prints and greetings cards)
Today considered one of the most unique and iconic features of the Wells Cathedral, for all the ethereal awe they inspire, the soaring Scissor Arches have a surprisingly scientific origin. The mason William Joy needed a solution to stabilise the upper structure of the building, and of the tower above, the weight of which had caused parts of the
Today considered one of the most unique and iconic features of the Wells Cathedral, for all the ethereal awe they inspire, the soaring Scissor Arches have a surprisingly scientific origin. The mason William Joy needed a solution to stabilise the upper structure of the building, and of the tower above, the weight of which had caused parts of the Cathedral structure to collapse in the 13th and 14th centuries. A remarkably elegant solution to a serious, practical problem, which undoubtedly added to the magnificence of the structure as a whole and this is surely proven by the fact that six hundred years later, an artist would be so inspired by the forms and tones of this load-bearing system that they would want to focus in on it in particular for a series of paintings. When I started to draw from photographs that I had taken of the Arches, I was keen to focus as much as possible on detail. Of course, the Scissor Arches represent a complete, perfect art form in themselves. The natural ‘pull’ for a representational painter would be to illustrate the stone either in earthy colours or in monochrome, but possibly on the simplest level, to reflect the warmth of the feeling I had when staring up at the Arches, I leant towards cadmium deep reds, burnt umbers and yellow-ochres when working with acrylics to build up my initial sketches into paintings.
Framed Original £650 (SOLD) Signed Limited Edition Fine Art Giclée Print £80