Innocence Betrayed

I delight in creating a fusion of paintings and poems produced as signed and numbered Giclee prints. I was inspired to create this work, completed in August 2008, by my 17 year old granddaughter expressing her concern about knife crime. I have uploaded two images of the work, one of the acrylic painting and one of the art and verse giclee print. The poem reads: 

Innocence Betrayed
Bowie knife and blade, once tools of the trade
For youngsters bent on honing talents
Like whittling timber. Just youthful pranks
With not a thought of malicious intent.
An innocence betrayed in these dark days
Of indulgent excess and intemperate rage,
By volatile youths, tempers ablaze,
Flaunting blades to slash and to maim.

The sheaf knives are mine. In my youth life was more relaxed and people were far more at ease with each other. As youngsters we were permitted to carry sheaf knives and used them in all innocence, perhaps to whittle away at wood. Then, come age 17 or 18 we'd lose interest in them. Not so today when, scarred by a society ill at ease with itself, malcontented youths carry knives if not with malicious intent then for self preservation.

I delight in creating a fusion of paintings and poems produced as signed and numbered Giclee prints. Following is the poem inspired by, for me, the emotionally charged painting of my mother completed in March, 2008. I have uploaded two images of the oil portrait and one of the art and verse Giclee print:

My Mother
So honoured to have been her son,
So sad that she is gone,
Yet enthralled that her memory lives on.
With Honesty freshly gleaned,
Her bearing tells so much
About her gentle charm,
Soft nature and loving touch.

An Authentication Certificate accompanies each print explaining my inspiration for this work:
The artist's mother, Nora Louise Butler, 1916 - 2003. Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother, yet to her family, simply Nan. Aged 70 she suffered an aneurysm and at that time was the oldest patient to undergo life saving brain surgery at London's Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. Despite dire possibilities the operation was a great success and she lived life to the full for another 17 years. Accompanying her in this portrait is Sir Charles Carver, her favourite cockerel, who used to answer her call for a handful of peanuts.

Please visit my website to discover more about my passion for art and verse.

I delight in creating a fusion of paintings and poems produced as signed and numbered Giclee prints. I have included in my gallery the original oil of  "Catching the Tide" along with the giclee print which includes the poem. Please visit my website to discover more about my passion for art and verse. Following is the poem inspired by my painting:

Catching the Tide
Outward bound upon the tide,
Under power with sails still furled,
Leeboards used for lack of keel,
Elegance of a bygone world.
Take the helm and with each turn of the wheel
Fathom the tales the Greta can tell
As she puts out to sea,
Bidding Whitstable farewell.

An Authentication Certificate accompanies each print explaining my inspiration for this work:

'Greta' putting to sea from Whitstable Harbour on the North Kent coast for a trip around the Isle of Sheppey on 2nd August, 2007. An ambition fulfilled, as I have long wanted to paint this magnificent Thames Sailing Barge. Visit www.thamesbarges.co.uk to learn more about 'Greta'.