This post is long overdue. I painted “In the flow”  2 months ago, during the Culture Days launch that was held in front of Burlington City Hall, on September 26th.

It is an abstraction inspired by a peacock feather mask that I bought in the Leeds Castle gift shop in England in 2001. The mask hung in my studio for more than a decade before I finally pulled it out to use as a still-life subject during the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge I did in September. I have done a few other paintings in this series, and I’m sure I will return to add to it.

The Culture Days launch was wonderful, it was my first time painting live at an outdoor event, chatting with the public and enjoying the live music just a few feet away from my booth.

There was this magical moment for me when I was more than half-way through the painting, and a new band started playing, their sound was so liquid, soothing and mesmerizing, I felt my hand holding the paintbrush moving to the slow hypnotic rhythm. I would say that the live music certainly added another layer  of influence to the painting.

I put together a little slide-show to show the progress of the painting throughout the afternoon, and you can see how drastically the painting seems to change in the night when the lights were changing colour in Burlington Civic Square. The combination of music, patterning and lighting was very interesting, bringing movement, and various interpretations to the image.

Thank you to those of you with the City of Burlington – and to my brother and his wife who were visiting – for everything you did to contribute to making this a memorable event! Here is a video showcasing Culture Days 2014 in Burlington.

I’m also happy to have been included in the promotional Burlington Arts and Culture video – Many voices, one vision – that Mayor Rick Goldring introduced that night, even if it is a blip with bad lighting (1:12-1:13), because I am proud to be part of, and to advocate for, the local arts community.

Update: This is the final version of this painting