Elaine Thomas
All Creatures Great and Small
paintings 2016-2017

Basilisk 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Behold 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Brimstone 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Bursting Forth 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Criss Cross 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 17 x 15 cm

'All Creatures Great and Small' is a group of paintings on wood, which are intentionally small in scale, while continuing many of the themes of 'Divine Antics'. I have focused on dark, organic and earthy colours, suggestive of an imagined underworld. Each painting presents one creature, sometimes two, often human, but at times evoking mythological characters and combining human features with those of fabulous beasts.

Damsel Fly 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Fledgling 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 17 x 13 cm
Damsels Fly 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Hermit 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Hornet's Nest 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Human Cargo 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 17 x 15 cm
Icarus 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm

Titles are used to provide clues, suggesting hidden meaning and seeking to prompt the viewer's imagination. The paintings allude to human behaviour, offering postures and ponderings, movement and constraint. The process of production is similar to earlier paintings on wood, using acrylic paint in a gestural and spontaneous way to provide a surface, followed by the focused use of watercolour to create and refine emerging images.

No Frills 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Penitent 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Ravished 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Rummage 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Subterfuge 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Tandem 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Winged Messenger 2016, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21 x 15 cm
Scapula 2017, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 17x15 cm
Gone to Ground 2017, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21x15 cm
Partial Eclipse 2017, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21x15 cm
Diviner 2017, acrylic and watercolour on wood, 21x15 cm