The Stables

Gifted in the middle of winter 2025, this face was colour matched to Patrick’s living room and depending on the time of day it stands proudly with dramatic shadows above the pink of sunset, or late in the evening it sits nearly invisible.

In November 2025, I was commissioned to do a face for a very blue wall. The blue was chosen with great care by Patrick for his renovation. The blue wall with the mustard yellow couch became one of the visions of the remodel’s finish line.

The colour was inspired from a film that Patrick loved and after very careful consideration Smalt by Little Greene was chosen.

It was very satisfying working with such a strong colour and watching the face blend so easily into its environment.

Patrick’s home in Somerset is filled with kids art and collections from local artists including ceramic wall hangings, so the question of what art to use on this blue living room wall was anchored by the desire not to eclipse the blue. The face was a perfect way to add a piece of interest that actually enhances the wall colour.

The face very nearly landed up on a yellow wall as a last minute experiment, the high contrast was so effecting, but in the end all present agreed that the blue-on-blue was far too satisfying, the fly on the wall, the silent observer a forever welcome guest in the home.

When determining the exact position to hang the face, we mirrored a little trick that Patrick used with another artwork in his bathroom, a backwards artwork reads the right way round when looked at through the bathroom mirror. For this placement, there is one chair at the dining room table that is in the right line of sight to look into a small mirror and see the face. It feels like a special little secret and is one of Patrick’s favourite things to show new guests or place them in that seat for dinner and wait to see how long it takes them to see the artwork.