New paintings and regular art updates.
Acrylic on canvas, abstract, hillfort maze.
I don’t know what I called it originally but it reminds me of the maze like paths up to the top of Maiden Castle in Dorset. It’s not actually representative I liked the idea of adding glitter and colour to give it spirit.
When the sun Shines it sparkles.
I just took this photo of a painting I did of Maiden Castle in the 1990’s. It’s a hill Fort in the countryside near Dorchester in Dorset, England. Sorry for the shine on it, my camera flash reflected off it.
What is Maiden Castle? A series of ramparts of soil, rising and falling until it reaches a plateau in the middlewhere the Fort is situated. It can be reached by a pathway through the maze of hills.
My painting includes a dancing and decaying figure. She is meant to represent the spirit of the place and its history. I was studying radiography at the time, and had found a rabbit skull on one of my walks. I also liked watching the archaeology TV programme, ‘ Time Team’ and this was my attempt to embody the feeling I got as I stood up on that hill.
Sadly I haven’t been back there since. But I just read a post by Sue Vincent and her visit to the place and it reminded me of the place. The Maiden Castle scene was taken from a photo and the dancing woman was imagined.
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Painted several years ago, my painting of Maiden Castle Hill Fort imagined a woman dancing in the landscape, and also her bones as if they were found in the land.
The idea was inspired by visiting Maiden Castle in the 1990s,thinking about it being a hill Fort and part of the Celtic world.
It is located in Dorset near Dorchester. If I remember correctly it is reached by a small road, then you walk up through the ditches and mounds that lead up to the top of the hill Fort.
I think I got the idea from watching archaeology programmes on TV. I imagined the woman being aware of the changing seasons and how time passes. The little skull below her is a rabbit skull we found on a walk.
It’s a bit weird, but I wanted to include a figure in the dramatic landscape.
 
This is a painting of maiden castle that I painted a few years ago. The place is an ancient monument, an iron age hill fort, near Dorchester in Dorset which is in the south of England.
The dancing figure in the foreground is meant to signify the age of the place. Her bones, and the rabbit skull below her are collapsing into the ground, what would archaeologists find if they dug there. The slopes of the hill fort are built up in steep steps. Like huge waves breaking on the coast of an island. The grass really does like to grow in waves and clumps.
So why did I paint it? I don’t know. Except that the place is full of mystery and ancient history. I probably would just paint the landscape if I was doing it now, but I’m glad I added the figure.
Mallaband-Brown