Angel Over Canterbury by Sara Wicks (tactile)

Synopsis

2001; by Sara Wicks (born 1965); mixed media on handmade paper, mounted in a grey wood box frame; paper: 29 cm high by 41 cm wide, frame: 47 cm high by 58 cm wide. The painting was commissioned as a cover for the Canterbury Festival brochure in 2001. Sara says: I wanted to celebrate the unique history of the city and decided to do this by collaging together the iconic architectural landmarks, centring on the Cathedral. The angel is a reference to the spiritual importance of the city. My choice of bright colour was to reinforce the positivity of the image as well as being eye-catching for the Festivs purposes. I made the piece by painting the different component images on separate bits of paper and collaging them together: the painting surface has gained in thickness and texture where I have reworked areas. This brightly coloured painting shows the River Stour as a royal blue strip along the bottom edge of the painting with black lines and shapes in it to give an idea of the water. Above the river are three iconic views of Canterbury set on a dark green strip - on the left is Dane John mound, in the centre Canterbury Cathedral, and on the right the West Gate Towers. Dane John is shown as a green mound with black spiral pathway leading to the rounded top that is surmounted by a white tiered memorial. Originally a prehistoric burial mound, it was landscaped in the 18th century under the direction of Alderman Simmons whose memorial now stands on the top. Canterbury Cathedral shown from the north side with its central tower (Bell Harry Tower) and western front. The cathedral has been outlined in black infilled with shades of brown. The windows and western door are shown in black and an idea of the leaded roof shown as grey with light blue highlights. The West Gate Towers, Canterbury's only surviving medieval gate is shown from the front (from St Dunstan's), and consists of two round towers with a gateway between. This is again outlined in black and infilled with a stone colour. The slits on each tower are gun loops, the first in England. The main gateway, which was originally protected with a heavy wooden door, drawbridge and murder holes (through which boiling oil could be poured on attackers) is shown in black. Arching over the whole scene is an Angel, dressed in a long white robe with bare feet, blowing a golden trumpet set against a yellow sky. The Angel has long brown hair that flows out behind her. The trumpet, held in both hands, points up to an orange sun in the top right hand corner of the painting. The circular sun has clearly depicted thick rays radiating out from it. The yellow sky turns to orange along the painting's top edge to form a contrasting border to the blue river at the bottom. The painting is signed and dated SW 01 in the bottom right hand corner. The tactile image is approximately half the size of the actual painting. A broken thick line shows the edge of the frame. The river is shown by a texture with a thick line for the river bank. A thick line also outlines the angel with thinner lines for the hair and facial features. Thinner lines also define the outlines of the cathedral, West Gate Towers, outline of the mound. The dark green strip above the river is shown by a different texture that is also used for the orange sky. The yellow sky has no texture. A further texture shows the white robe of the angel, the roof of the cathedral and Dane John mound with hollows for the spiral path. Solid texture shows the sun, the trumpet, the windows and doors on the cathedral and West Gate Towers, and the memorial on top of Dane John mound.

Copyright:

2011

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Publisher:

RNIB

Date of Addition:

04/12/17

Copyrighted By:

RNIB

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Art and Architecture

Submitted By:

Sarah Bennett

Proofread By:

N/A

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.