Duality

Acrylics on canvas, 60x60cm.
On my recent visit to Arran for my working holiday I took with me four canvases each 60cm square. I am intrigued by this sqare format and think that I can do wonderful things with them - they are a good shape for placing two decent sized figures side-by-side, or a single subject filling the whole surface. The intention was to take these canvases with me out on field trips and paint direct from life, but I took cold feet, not wanting to stand about in public painting at an easle. I have done it before but maybe I'm getting too old for it, certainly more reticent about exposing myself in public to the looks and comments of passers-by. I hate being a side-show for the tourists especially when I am struggling to make a decent painting worthy of viewing.
So these four boards were kept firmly indoors at the cottage where I was staying where i had set myself up in a makeshift studio in the kitchen/dining room. This painting came from one session where I allowed myself to open up and freely express some of the thoughts in my head. Or in this case these two heads - one full of energy and life, and the other, darker, a shadow of it's friend. The concept I was exploring (again) is one of personal duality. In fact that's what I'll call it 'Duality'.