Stonehenge has fascinated artists working in every conceivable medium, probably for millenia, although the first known drawing of it is in a 14th century manuscript in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Having painted, drawn and photographed it I never felt I had caught its essence representationally, conceptually or emotionally. It was only on a visit to the 5100 year old inner circle that I discovered that it is covered with lichens (there are 79 species there) many having been present for thousands of years. They are colourful, mysterious in origin, shaped in beautiful yet random patterns. Stonehenge suddenly became a living, breathing place, more than a global icon, a place of ritual and worship and a work of art in its own right. It had yeilded up its secret!
These images are created from enlarged photos, faithfully painted and textured with acrylic paint and then re-photographed. They show the random patterns of multi-coloured lichens making this a unique, different and surprising way to get at and capture the essence of Stonehenge.
Many thanks to Theadora Sutton for her collaboration on this project.