James Dignan - Art to 2000

The painting is based on two lines from William Blake's poem Jerusalem ("...and was Jerusalem builded here/among these dark satanic mills?"). The 'satanic mills' are represented by the texture of the glossy black paint, which, from some angles, shows the shapes of an industrial town. To the right is a close-up of the  'town' section of the lower central panel.

A serendipitous accident. I was undercoating a board for an oil painting when I realised that it was becoming a workable picture in its own right. "The dark current" is a real neurological phenomenon (neural currents which pass from the eyes to the brain only when the eyes are shut). Part of this picture forms the background for my homepage.

An attempt to continue the style started with Against the dark current.

Based on a photograph by my friend Martÿn Buyck. This was the first painting of mine to win an award ("Highly commended", at the 2000 Otago University student art exhibition), and also my first sale.

The view across St Kilda and South Dunedin, looking toward Signal Hill.

The landscape does not exist, other than in my mind, although it has a strong resemblance to a view of Kapiti Island as seen during a rail journey through the North Island. 

The first attempt to mix colour with my monochromats - the view is from the front window of my home. 

An exercise in colour.

Local rock band Mëstar were sketched in performance at Arc Café, Dunedin.

My largest monochromat to date, a view of the estuary of the Kaikorai Stream as seen from the Waldronville-Brighton Road, south of Dunedin. Although essentially a monochromat, there is subtle toning.

The view looking west across Golden Bay at the top of the South Island on a warm summer's evening.

Painting from memory, of the esplanade at St. Clair. The shape of the hill is wrong, but the effect is right (which is more important!).

Another monochromatic impression, stylistically connected with A plane in the rain is humming and Winter Morning, St. Kilda. The original intention was to paint a dilapidated farm fence-post and wire surrounded by puddles in a heavy rainstorm. Somehow it developed into something quite different.

An exercise in miniature and monochrome from a photo taken somewhere near the Hope Saddle. At least partly inspired by the colour and feel of Delft chinaware.

Partner to Buller highway, this time tempering the blue and white with green.

First real attempt at a self-portrait, painted - at Alice's suggestion - on a small board using only an old 1" brush.

Based on a view seen while on holiday in the North Island. The title is a tongue-in-cheek comment on our best view of Auckland, 40 km away across the Hauraki Gulf on the Coromandel Peninsula. The painting shows a distant view of Auckland, bleak and grey against the horizon behind the shimmering waters around the Motukawao Islands. My first attempt at decalcomania on the sky and sea.

Sitting in the car at dusk, listening to Gareth Farr's Waipoua and watching misty cloud moving behind the telephone lines. The sky in this painting was built up using 'dirty water' - very thin washes of paint, applied with a small roller and very soft brush.

For me, a relatively unusual colour combination. No idea what it means, the composition just felt right.