Valda Bailey

Blue Moon Rising Tree Print on Glass with White Gold leaf in white frame frame

2019

Print detail: Painting like photographic print, Printed on Museum Glass and Hand Gilded with Gold leaf in custom made frame. 41 x 57 cm (Framed) Glass Print from Edition of 1/5 Series: Blossom Blizzard (New Print on Glass edition 2022) Shipping: The print on glass would be packed and into wooden crate for artwork protection and shipped with professional art shippers. About the work: "Despite T.S. Eliot's assertion that 'April is the cruellest month', I invariably feel a sudden surge of wellbeing and optimism when the first scent of spring hangs in the air. I know I'm far from alone in this - photographers and artists surely feel that sense of excitement as keenly as any gardener eagerly rifling though their seed packets. Mother Nature, it seems, is handing us our images on a plate. The light is soft and benign, the colours, gentle, and the countryside seems to suddenly be filled with boundless enthusiasm. Quotes such as 'Spring is nature's way of reminding us that every day is worthy of celebration' pop up on social media with unfailing regularity - long before the first cuckoo is heard. This image was taken at Stanmer Park, just outside of Brighton. A blustery day in early April, the air was filled with the sweet smell of April and the profligacy and exuberance of the new growth emerging was inspirational. Blossom-laden branches were everywhere but I concentrated on one small tree that stood apart from the rest. For reasons unclear, its tiny flowers seemed whiter, fluffier, altogether more generous than that of any of its neighbours. It was bitterly cold. The type of cold that can only be experienced when one has left home in overly optimistic clothing, only to realise that the wind chill factor hadn't been accounted for when getting dressed. I struggled on for about half an hour - reluctant to retreat to the warmth of the nearby cafe and the very enticing appeal of a cup of coffee. Fortunately, my inspiration came quickly - as the tiny petals blew around my head and I stood there shivering in all my reckless optimism, I realised it felt like nothing more than being encased in one of those half-domed snow globes. The fiercest blizzard was surely never this intense. I certainly couldn't imagine it ever being this cold. Photographic perfection is not my objective. Its obedient conformity initially attracts, but, for me, leaves little enticement to investigate further. So it was that the tangled complexity of branches and the disparate arrangement of blossom engaged, rather than frustrated my aspirations. By layering image upon image, frame upon frame, I was able to build up the layers of blossom and emphasise the movement of the branches. All photographic images represent a moment in time. The way I make my images combine several. I walked around the tree, back and forth trying to engage with the long-limbed gaucheness of its extended branches. The colour palette needed little intervention; I don't think anybody makes a paint called 'blustery blue' but perhaps they should. This contrasted beautifully with the jade and emerald grass, subsequently overlaid with soft white snowflakes and created, what for me, was a very pleasing and fresh arrangement of seasonal colours." - Valda Bailey

UNTITLED #5, 2021 Archival Pigment Print, Mounted on Aluminium Dibond, Framed with antireflective art glass 90 x 60 cm 91 x 61 cm - framed _ Overseas ship...

"Taken on Hikkaduwa Beach, Sri Lanka as the sun was setting; casting its golden rays along the beach... The image endeavours to celebrate of the noble presence and elegant sway of the ubiquitous palm tree. The palm tree has many symbolic meanings and in this image I have tried to highlight its association with immortality and regeneration with the addition of gold leaf. The majority of Sri Lankan identifies as Buddhist and the spiritual associations gave me the title." - Valda Bailey...

"An image taken in Pushkar during what was to be a memorable trip and the last link with normality before the pandemic took hold. We travelled around India, the days becoming more and more precious as we got the sense of Covid's restrictive net closing in around the world. The image was finished some months later, while fully in the grasp of a second lockdown. The addition of gold leaf symbolised for me a sense of hope and the spiritual energy with which I will always associate India, and especially Pushkar." - Valda Bailey...

Truth, 2017 Print on Museum Glass, Hand gilded with Lemon and Moon Gold 31 x 31 cm/ 12.2 x 12.2 in (custom framed) Edition of 5 This print is from a series of images made from a collection of honesty seeds gathered at the end of baking hot summer... The papery enclosures are like parchment through which the light filters with a pale gold delicacy." The beauty of the pieces printed on glass are truly revealed when seen in the flesh, which shimmer in the daylight and change constantly as different light sources are reflected off the print. "My fascination with colour goes back a long way. One of my earliest creative recollections has me sitting at a table endlessly mixing paints in a valiant but ultimately futile attempt to 'invent a new colour'. It was an imperative that kept me occupied for some time as I recall. The result was always the same - and unedifying fudge of pale peach and silver." - Valda Bailey...

"Burnt Place" - After the fire swept through, the forest was left scorched and barren. The ground is still warm and the unstirring air is thick with the scent of charred wood. Scorched, lifeless pines stand solemn and mournful in the shadows of the Burnt Place. About the Twilight's Path project: "We spend our lives surrounded by the security of possessions, relationships and roles, but our futures hold nothing so substantial; one day we must all enter into true not- knowing - into a dark, unconscious place." Jasper Goodall...

Archival Pigment Print Montage fro Subway poster All available sizes & editions for each size of this photograph: 40" x 30” - Edition of 5 + 2 Artist Proofs 50" X 40"- Edition of 5...

Archival Pigment Print Approaching Dust Storm, Floyd County, Texas, 2013 Dust storms form when wind whips up loose soil. They aren’t unusual in West Texas, and typically the wall o...

Archival Pigment Print Camden AL All available sizes & editions for each size of this photograph: 30" x 40” - Edition of 5 + 2 Artist Proofs 40" X 50"- Edition of 5 + 2 Artist Proo...

Classic montage from mid-80s. Title from James Joyce All available sizes & editions for each size of this photograph: 30" x 40” - Edition of 5 + 2 Artist Proofs 40" X 50"- Edition o...

Archival Pigment Print Early morning view of Fish Market All available sizes & editions for each size of this photograph: 30" x 40” - Edition of 5 + 2 Artist Proofs 40" X 50"- Edit...

Archival Pigment Print Rainbow over Central Havana All available sizes & editions for each size of this photograph: 30" x 40” - Edition of 5 + 2 Artist Proofs 40" X 50"- Edition of...