Spanish Gallery - Spring of Life

It is our second collaboration with StudioMB, and it is always a great joy to work with Stuart Fraser & the team. After the Al Salam Palace Museum in Kuwait, I was now asked to work on The Spanish Gallery memento mori walls. The gallery is the UK's largest collection of 16th and 17th century Spanish artworks outside London. It includes work by El Greco, Murillo and Velazquez… 

The illustration would be set on the Spring of Life room, a room dedicated to the futility of life, the well known art theme Memento Mori. What a tremendous theme ! 

Superb yet already faded roses, iris, and carnation, punctuated here and there by spiders and dragonflies.

What do you think ? 

Creating a patterned was also a first for me. And I must say I'm pretty pleased by the result. No weird feeling of static pattern, or hard symmetry. There is three panels with a little variation (bumblebee & petals) to create a bit more movement. Everything find its place quite properly.

This last picture is so dramatic with it's chiaroscuro effect I love it. It almost feels like we are immersed in one of the painting of the gallery.

photo credit to StudioMB