Phil Irish

With the Narnia Triptych almost completed, there was a panic of final details. The canvas had developed a ruffled edge, for instance, that I had to tame. Since I painted the work in sections, in essence rolling the canvases up and down my walls like huge scrolls, it was key to lay them all out side by side and make sure they all spoke to each other.

I pumped some extra colour into the right panel --- Aslan's Spring --- to make sure it would not be overcome by the Witch's bold contrasts. Why is it always easier to create something sinister than something hope filled? But, in fact, I am delighted with the vibrant and vital opulence of the right side. It is really the only section where I was changing things as I went: dangerously beautiful.

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And little Ravenna, now almost 6 months old. How is it that our clothes match the painting? Not planned, I assure you. Some passages of the Triptych were painted with her in my arms... she would be mesmerized for a time, and then rebel.