Mackerel on plaster

The inspiration for this piece came from seeing a painting at a friends house. Our friends Barbara and Barry, who own and run the Countryworks Gallery in Montgomery, Powys, have a 'painting' at home (I can't remember what the subject was) which was almost like a mini fresco that had been broken. It was mounted and put in a frame and I thought it was really interesting. This mackerel was an early experiment and before that I played around with different plaster and cement mixes and made notes as I went along. I just used watercolour paint and it went on really easily, I remember. My intention had then been to make a more authentic looking piece (as if it was an ancient section of a fresco) but made up of pieces as if it had got broken at some point and then roughly assembled with the pieces not quite touching. Unfortunately I got my notes muddled and I never did manage to replicate the plaster concrete mix. Whenever I applied the paint it just didn't go on very well. I may have a go again one day as I liked the effect. I'm sure with trial and error I'll get it right eventually!