Skulls

I hid a few of my skulls about Cornwall this Halloween.

Since about 2009 skull images have appeared regularly in my work. When I am drawing larger or more complicated images or doodles I tend to draw before I think (or think unconsciously instead of consciously) of what images I draw. Because of this, there is always an underlying reason for images which re-occur in my work.

With this skull motif it is no mystery to me. I have always liked the sugar skull images from Mexico's macabre but positive Day Of The Dead festival, when Mexican people celebrate the lives of their ancestors on November 1st and 2nd the day after our Halloween (not a coincidence!).
The sugar skulls and Catrinas also serve the living as a reminder of their mortality.

So, when I only have a moment and have to paint something that reflects me, I often do a skull. Over the last few years these have evolve into a sort of elephant's-foot-shaped pot!

Just like the sugar skulls, my skulls have always had a positivity about them but at the same time reflect an underlying message that nothing will last forever and that, underneath it all, every man is equal.

So, our Halloween season seems like a great time for me to get some of my skulls out there.