Rituals I
2025
Calligraphic Ink on textured paper
A3 size (297x420mm)
Signed
(Price includes free UK postage, please contact me for international shipping costs.)
Drinking rituals have fascinated me for decades. As millennia-old sites of personal and cultural magic, they have the power to transmute or focus moods, to create moments of meaningful interpersonal interaction, to provide escape from reality through inversion or release, to cement and shape community.
I have returned to this subject countless time – first through postgraduate research in the mid-00s and then performance and creative writing, and for the last 15 years this fascination has shaped a successful and deeply satisfying commercial photographic career.
“Rituals I” is the first painting from a new series that seeks to add to my exploration what writing and photography have not so far: to express the many layers of emotion and experience and meaning that a certain drink in a certain place can summon. The ice-cold Gibson martini at that legendary hotel bar, or a meditative Guinness at that tiny Soho pub on a rainy afternoon, or a vibrant Côtes du Rhône before a family lunch – all of these are potent sources of magical ritual, combining the mood of recipient, creator and surroundings; the shape of the vessel, the scent and taste of the liquid, the quality of light, the soundscape, and so many more sensory signifiers to weave a spell that exists in only that one moment.
This is not a print – you are purchasing a unique, original one-of-a-kind painting made from calligraphic ink on beautiful 300gsm heavyweight textured paper. It will be wrapped in acid free tissue paper and shipped in a protective cardboard tube/envelope.
CHRISTMAS ORDERS
All orders received by the evening of December 16th will go out on the morning of the 17th, which will be safe for UK Christmas gifts (quoteth Royal Mail). A final delivery run on December 20th will be available for any orders after that, which according to the Royal Mail site should be safe – but push it at your discretion. Ha. All Christmas orders will be posted First Class UK including in the cost.
2025
Calligraphic Ink on textured paper
A3 size (297x420mm)
Signed
(Price includes free UK postage, please contact me for international shipping costs.)
Drinking rituals have fascinated me for decades. As millennia-old sites of personal and cultural magic, they have the power to transmute or focus moods, to create moments of meaningful interpersonal interaction, to provide escape from reality through inversion or release, to cement and shape community.
I have returned to this subject countless time – first through postgraduate research in the mid-00s and then performance and creative writing, and for the last 15 years this fascination has shaped a successful and deeply satisfying commercial photographic career.
“Rituals I” is the first painting from a new series that seeks to add to my exploration what writing and photography have not so far: to express the many layers of emotion and experience and meaning that a certain drink in a certain place can summon. The ice-cold Gibson martini at that legendary hotel bar, or a meditative Guinness at that tiny Soho pub on a rainy afternoon, or a vibrant Côtes du Rhône before a family lunch – all of these are potent sources of magical ritual, combining the mood of recipient, creator and surroundings; the shape of the vessel, the scent and taste of the liquid, the quality of light, the soundscape, and so many more sensory signifiers to weave a spell that exists in only that one moment.
This is not a print – you are purchasing a unique, original one-of-a-kind painting made from calligraphic ink on beautiful 300gsm heavyweight textured paper. It will be wrapped in acid free tissue paper and shipped in a protective cardboard tube/envelope.
CHRISTMAS ORDERS
All orders received by the evening of December 16th will go out on the morning of the 17th, which will be safe for UK Christmas gifts (quoteth Royal Mail). A final delivery run on December 20th will be available for any orders after that, which according to the Royal Mail site should be safe – but push it at your discretion. Ha. All Christmas orders will be posted First Class UK including in the cost.