Ripeness, La Danse, 2006 

I had worked closely with a landscape gardener, on a landscaping commission in Pafos, Cyprus, at the same house where I had painted the cupola mural. 

When he subsequently bought a job-lot of these huge clay pots (pitharia) to use in other gardens, he found that two had severe damage that made it impossible for him to use them in their natural state. So he asked me to repair and then decorate them by way of concealing the damage.

This, the larger one, had wire holding it together at the top, and both needed a great deal of filling to prepare them to be worked on. 

He gave me carte blanche to paint on them whatever I chose. The larger of the two stood almost as tall as me, measured 4m in circumference, but tapered to a mere 30cm at the base……Unthinkingly, I settled on painting a copy of Matisse’s La Danse. (Clearly painting the concave surface of the cupola, Ceiling mural, Palm, 2005, had taught me nothing. Once again I found myself grappling with problems of perspective - exaggerated thighs and backsides on the wide belly of the pot, and weirdly elongated and tapering legs and feet where it diminished to nothing at the base.

Eventually I succeeded, after a fashion, but when I presented it to the client it was met with a subdued response - but only because it featured nude figures! He had not been aware that it was based on a famous painting, and really only warmed to it once he had read an article about how the Russians had refused to let the painting go to the UK! 

I used exterior quality house paints and gave the piece several coats of strong varnish, so that it could stand up to strong sunshine without fading, and heavy weather without flaking. The client arranged for the metal base to be made by a local metal worker.

The work is in in Cyprus.