This is the seventh and last canvas in the series. I had already been working on the other six for months while this one remained ominously blank. I left this one for last for two reasons: As the conclusive painting in the series, also the one commanding a view over Bantry Bay and the actual hotel where the paintings will hang, it absolutely had to be something spectacular; the second reason is that I wanted to assess the amount of growth during this project and my development and skill as painter, after working for months on canvasses this size.
I was fairly certain that by the time I start this one, the size would be far less daunting than when I started the very first one months ago.
Within a week the canvas looked like this (pictured above)! Right from the start my color mixing was much closer to the final color and that alone saves hours upon hours. It is tricky to judge what the first color strokes on the canvas will look like when surrounded by all the other colors. In this field, I grew a lot and I am very excited about the new possibilities now laid bare and at my disposal.
The painting developed quickly. It was clear in the development of the concept that I needed a hand in the painting, in a way a counterpoint for the other very strong symbol of the black fist on one of the other canvasses. The hand emerged like this:
The hand, like that of a sangoma, casts dolosse (traditionally small objects like bones and shells) onto a silver plate. The nature of the thrown objects in the painting differs and each have a significent undertone.
