Thursday 26 October 2017

Exhibition Paintings or... The Saga of Roger and Veronica

Here are the paintings from my exhibition. I've also included the story which goes along with them, as well as details should you want to buy them (or prints of them)!


Vikings II
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Sveinn Sharpbeak was a ferocious Viking warrior who sailed great distances with his crew in search of plunder and slaves. Contemporary sources described him charging into battles wielding his characteristic long-axe. The legend goes that if he ever found himself unarmed he would use his beak to strike down his foes. For many generations his story was forgotten, but he has achieved greater historical prominence in recent years thanks to his famous descendant, Roger.

Original framed painting - £350.00
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
Wedding II
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Happy day! Roger was getting married to the beautiful Veronica Featherbottom. The wedding was a high class affair, with many of Roger’s friends from the upper echelons of bird society in attendance. Sadly, the bride’s family were mostly absent after a falling out (they were allegedly concerned about the groom’s mysterious demeanour). But Veronica was glad to see her fellow members of the Burnham-on-Sea WI, all there to celebrate with her on the BEST and MOST JOYFUL day of her life.

Original framed painting - £350.00
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
Honeymoon II
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Roger and Veronica basked in the sunshine at the Shady Palms Hotel, enjoying the laid back ambience of this honeymoon destination. The hotel was the best in Miami - Roger, being used to such luxury, was quite at home, but Veronica hadn’t quite adjusted to the high life. She felt a long way from her old life in Burnham-on-Sea.

Original framed painting - SOLD
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
Dance of the Villagers
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

After their honeymoon, Roger took his new bride to his ancestral seat, a large estate bordering a great forest. On their first night, Roger and Veronica went for a moonlit sleigh ride, passing by the village which housed the workers who managed Roger’s estate. In a clearing the women of the village were performing a strange, secret dance. As soon as they realised that they were being watched, the village women stopped and dispersed to their homes, leaving the meaning of the dance a mystery.

Original framed painting - SOLD
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
The West Wing
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Veronica was allowed to visit most of the rooms in Roger’s vast mansion freely, but Roger had always forbidden her from exploring the West Wing. One stormy night, her curiosity overcame her and she crept up the stairs to the West Wing and into the room which Roger referred to as his ‘Study’. But who were all the mysterious women? Under each portrait was the same inscription - ‘My Beloved Wife’.

Original framed painting - £350.00
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
March of the W.A.R
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Veronica fled the mansion after that stormy night. She could find no trace of Roger’s previous wives. Together with the Burnham-on-Sea WI and the women from Roger’s village, Veronica created a movement called Women Against Roger (or W.A.R) whose manifesto was to mobilise the women of the world to bring Roger to justice, whatever it took. It wouldn’t be an easy fight; Roger had great power and wealth. But Veronica was determined, and her friends were behind her.

Original framed painting - £350.00
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00

Roger’s Escape
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Over time, the Women Against Roger movement grew in power as more and more women joined their ranks. The tide began to turn against Roger and the W.A.R started to put pressure on law enforcement agencies to reinvestigate the disappearance of Roger’s wives. One evening, Roger received a tip off from a friend on the force that a search warrant would be issued for his mansion the following day. When the police arrived, he was nowhere to be found. Roger decided to go on the lam to the Isle of Eigg, where he hoped to lay low until the heat died down.

Original framed painting - SOLD
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
Iceberg III
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Roger lived quietly on Eigg for a while, but eventually the W.A.R were alerted to his whereabouts by islanders sympathetic to Veronica’s cause. Roger managed to escape the island in a stolen boat. He eventually made a home for himself on an iceberg to the north of Svalbard. One evening years later a boat appeared, carrying Veronica. She had been looking for Roger for so long, but upon finding him she became suddenly unsure of what she would do next.

Original framed painting - SOLD
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
The Cult of Roger
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Years after these events, many things in the world had changed. All the bird folk had disappeared or migrated. A group of feral children found Roger’s mansion. Coming across paintings and statues of him, some of the children decided that Roger must be an ancient powerful god, and formed a cult dedicated to worshipping him. They were led by the High Priestess, and they made many offerings to their new god, as well as blood sacrifices (mostly goats).

Original framed painting - SOLD
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
Crab Hunters
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Not all of the feral children thought that worshipping Roger was a good idea. The ones who disagreed with the Cult of Roger made camp in the grounds of Roger’s mansion, and spent their days peacefully living off the land - hunting, foraging and catching crabs and crayfish in the river.

Original framed painting - £350.00
Full size giclee print (A1) - £90.00
1/2 size giclee print (A2) - £50.00
1/4 size giclee print (A3) - £25.00
Roger
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Original framed painting - SOLD
Full size giclee print (A2+) - £55.00
1/2 size giclee print (A3+) - £30.00
1/4 size giclee print (A4) - £15.00
Veronica
2017
Gouache and Inks on Paper

Original framed painting - £275.00
Full size giclee print (A2+) - £55.00
1/2 size giclee print (A3+) - £30.00
1/4 size giclee print (A4) - £15.00












Milton Gallery Exhibition

September was a very exciting month, as I had my first solo exhibition at the Milton Gallery in London. The gallery is pretty big, so the idea of making enough work to fill it was mildly terrifying, but after about 8 months of sheer panic, no sleep and extreme levels of stress, I ended up with 12 huge paintings and a wall full of colourful character cut-outs. I am so pleased with these pieces - I had never done anything like them before, and I had a whale of a time making them (y'know, forgetting all the crazy stress and whatnot)... Here's a few pictures from the private view.














Saturday 28 January 2017

Brrrr......

It's a heck of a cold day here in Edinburgh, so in honour of that here's a chilly picture I drew as part of a festive series of illustrations.


Shiny new website!

I finally got round to creating a website! For a person like me who is hopelessly non-technological it seemed an impossible task! But after what felt like a million hours of confusion, I ended up with a pretty darn professional looking site...so feast your eyes!

www.alexandriaturner.co.uk

Sunday 31 January 2016

Artist's Guide to Leith Exhibition

From one exhibition to the next - I got chatting to one of the organisers of this mini festival at the opening night of the CharacterMart exhibition, agreed to take part and the rest is history! Here's the page advertising the exhibition:

https://www.facebook.com/ArtistGuideLeith/?fref=ts

Because of the time-scale, I decided to work entirely non-digitally, which is not at all how I normally work! This was kind of terrifying, as if anything went wrong with my drawing I wouldn't just be able to erase it...it would be wrong...forever. In the end though, I was really pleased I had done it this way, as there's something about a little hand-done drawing or painting that looks more special and more intimate than a digital print. Anyway, enough waffle, here they are:

These paintings are all roughly A5 sized, done in a mixture of ink and brush pen, and gouache paints. They are available to buy framed for £35.00.


 'Iceberg' - SOLD

'Moon'


 'Acolytes II'


'Acolytes'
 

'Boy'
 

'Clifftop'
 

'Croft'
 

'Honeymooning' - SOLD
 

'Miko'
 

'Vikings'

Sunday 24 January 2016

CharacterMart Exhibition

In December I was fortunate enough to take part in an exhibition, CharacterMart, at the Biscuit Factory in Leith. Organised by some terribly talented artists, character creators, and all round good eggs, it was a really exciting thing to be a part of and I loved every second of it (even manning the shop when it was below freezing temperatures INSIDE). I also loved having a reason for creating some self-directed work, as I'm the kind of person who needs the panic of a looming exhibition to actually get off my bum and do some of my own stuff...

The pieces I did for this exhibition were a little different from some of my other illustration work. They were based around a character I created a long time ago, the great and all powerful ROGER. I'm not really sure where Roger came from, it kind of feels like he was already floating around in the ether and just popped into my brain fully formed. Anyway, the pictures I did for this exhibition involved him meeting and marrying his lady love, and a bunch of his descendants (plus his wife's scary family). These prints are also available for SALE so do message me if you fancy one adorning your wall.

                                   
 'Descendants' A3 Print (Edition of 100) - £15.00


 'Roger's Village' A6 Mini Print - £1.50


   'The Bride's Side' A3 Print (Edition of 100) - £15.00

 'Roger' A4 Print (Edition of 100) - £8.00


'Bride of Roger' A4 Print (Edition of 100) - £8.00

'Wedding' A3 Print (Edition of 100) - £15.00
                                         
My work in situ at the Biscuit Factory



Wednesday 13 January 2016

Ladybird Knights and Castles!

As I'm hopelessly behind with this blog, I thought I may as well attempt to catch up with myself and share something from July last year! The first book I illustrated all by myself was published by Ladybird, and it was even more exciting as it was about one of my fave subjects, medieval folk!
You can pick up a copy here
And you can check out a few images from the book below: