[Burgundy: with birds]

: Sheila Donaldson Walters, 1980

: ; cm

Inscription on back that might be the title but could not be translated.

Sheila painted many paintings in Chloë’s garden that year of family and of close friends and neighbours. These paintings slowly became more colourful and were often full of symbolism, or perhaps of images that came to her in her dreams. Tuneful blackbirds regularly came into Sheila’s daily life, wherever she happened to be, and she felt that the bird had a connection to Justin, that Justin’s spirit was within the bird. Both Chloe and Sheila had felt that they had had different sorts of premonitions of Justin’s untimely death. A few days before his accident, Chloë had made a small picture as a birthday card for her sister of a messenger on horseback (the messenger on horseback is seen in this series of paintings). Sheila had seen a film that had coloured and haunted her thoughts prior to Justin’s death (see the Green Room collage above). In this series of paintings made in Burgundy, the family are pictured going about their daily tasks; preparing a fire in the garden to grill fish for supper, and sharing a meal with sympathetic friends. Chloë’s partner Gine is seen sorting items of underwear for her market stall, while Chloë’s father reads a book, all trying to come to terms with the tragedy. -- Charlotte Cowlishaw 2019

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Copyright: CC-BY

Wellcome Collection