Jonathan Dunbar Snell
Jonathan has been working with people and images most of his life and has brought them together in his recent work.
A graduate of Ipswich Art School and Camberwell School of Art, and a postgraduate assistant of printmaker Michael Rosenstein, he has returned to the medium and subject that inspires him most, portrait painting. He had several early art exhibitions, then trained as a ceramicist and frequently exhibited his work which is held in collections worldwide.
Following this Jonathan studied counselling, psychotherapy and bodywork and now runs a consultancy practice as a mentor with individuals in transition or at a time of challenge and change, in the professional and business community.
He has taken the experiences of being with people in deep and complex exchanges to inform his thinking as he approaches a new era in his creative work. “The sensual pleasure of painting equates with the joy of being with someone who recognises their truth for themselves anew.”
The current exhibition of pictures, were painted in his studio at Newbattle Abbey near Edinburgh.
The images are painted in acrylic or oil, on canvas and paper and taken from drawings, studies, photographs and life.
“I try to capture moments that express the feelings I am trying to create, as unexpressed emotion might fix an expression, or held tension could skew physical direction. I enjoy using scale and juxtaposition to highlight underlying stories that characterise my interest.”
Jonathan accepts commissions and is currently working on several portraits. His approach is to find the hidden stories and illuminate through painting unexplored traits and characteristics with metaphor, myths and elaborations.
Portraits
Dancer, Acrylic on paper. 30”x40”.
I enjoy painting my wife Hilary who’s quiet, calm personality is transformed when she performs. Her fierce enthusiasm for the dance form and her inner vamp conspire to charge and fire up my imagination.
I love the billowing silks and the deep inner movements that flow outward from her when she dances. The strong colours and action give me encouragement for the fluid marks and a bold approach I want to take.
Painter
Groove
'Groove' blank greeting cards available on www.hilarysbazaar.com
Groove
Arabian Night
'Arabian Night' blank greeting cards available on www.hilarysbazaar.com
In a spin, acrylic on paper. 30”x 40”
I worked with the paint by throwing, washing and broad loose movements on the floor to find the flow and feel of the fabric, picking out the hard edges and beads to highlight and support the movement. Again this is a held moment in which I have attempted to bring charge and energy.
'In a spin' blank greeting cards available on www.hilarysbazaar.com
Double veil dance. Acrylic on paper. 30”x 40”
I have approached this subject with the silk in mind sweeping large areas of colour and supporting marks to highlight the luminescence as the light glows through the fabric. I have attempted to keep the feeling of constant movement alive with the loose brush marks.
Sufi Wisdom
This acrylic painting on canvas was product of frequent visits to Istanbul and an interest in the Sufi traditions and poetry. I wanted to get to the intensity, generosity of spirit and clear mindedness that I met in these people.
The painting was done with an attempt at this attitude, simple, direct and lucid.
Private collection.
African Muslim, Acrylic on canvas. 19”x 24”
I attempted to create a feeling of confinement in fabric using bright colour and loose marks. The power of the woman within the limitation and constraint is a subject that attracts my attention.
Dancer, Acrylic on paper. 30”x40”.
I enjoy painting my wife Hilary who’s quiet, calm personality is transformed when she performs. Her fierce enthusiasm for the dance form and her inner vamp conspire to charge and fire up my imagination.
I love the billowing silks and the deep inner movements that flow outward from her when she dances. The strong colours and action give me encouragement for the fluid marks and a bold approach I want to
The image of Odin, oil on canvas, 24’x 30”, was based on a self portrait and remains a strong symbol of my own journey, having lost the sight in one eye myself for a while and drunk from the wisdom well of St. Cyril on the Celtic Isle of Mona at that time, it seemed fitting. The two ravens Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory) also serve as a reminder of the many voices of council and contradiction that have hindered and helped me chart my way through life.
Oil paint in its texture and mobility help me realise a deeper engagement with the sexual and sensual through the act of painting. The mistletoe on his hat (the thing that killed Odin’s son Baldr; see Baldur’s Voyage), was also used as a contraceptive, raising the oestrogen high enough to stop life. He was a wanderer, a trickster, a risk taker and creator and a great inspiration to me. His mythic form gives even greater vigour to the tales of his exploits.
NFS
The couple, acrylic on canvas. 58’x 76”
The forces that play out between people in relationship, so often unspoken and unresolved carry a tension that I have tried to convey using blocks of colour and contrasts in light.
I used the history of the people in background and dress to contextualize the emotion, the inward meets the outward, the attraction/repulsion drama fixing the situation in momentary permanence. I also used scale to hold dominating emotion at its pinnacle.
Father and son, acrylic on canvas. 46”x 58”
I really enjoyed the interplay between father and son. The son as clown (being perfect), with an underlying malevolence, set against the power of the father, so out of reach, the unformed hand grasping for the unattainable. Unrequited longing sending him to the dream of California yet lost to reality. Scale and proportion combined with the blocks of colour helped pick out the detail of the feelings.
Mother and son, oil on canvas. 54”x 66”
In this oil painting I tried to pitch the setting as if the viewer was the TV in the slightly ghostly light giving a private view of mother idealization and the rage-full but compliant son struggling to find independence and separation. I have used a disjointed placement to contrast with the pinpointed emotional focus using colour and technique to heighten the moment of drama.
This gouache painting was an attempt to depict some of the feelings still residual of my childhood on the farm where heavy horses did the work and farm hands were commonplace. Contrasting colour, scale, proportion and flat slabs helped form ideas that I now use.
The images of boats are from Seton harbour.
Mixed media on paper. 31”x 41”
Sleeping horse acrylic on paper. 30”x 40”
Every year I spend some time at a horse fair which is full of inspiration for me, I love the directness of that situation and of horses and have attempted to capture that in my approach to the medium.
Coloured pencil and wash on cartridge paper. 20’x 30”
Life drawing has always played an important role in my work.
