Tag: Cheltenham Paint Festival

2452. Cheltenham 2018 (1)

This is an unmistakable piece by My Dog Sighs, which was one of several little ‘gifts’ left behind in Cheltenham by him at the Paint Festival in 2018. Having never been to a Cheltenham Art Festival before I was discovering so many of these beauties for the first time this year. I love this photograph… there is something about the placement of the piece on this particular wall and its immediate environment, such as the carpet and the weeds that come together to make an outstanding image.

My Dog Sighs, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
My Dog Sighs, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

I don’t think I’ll ever tire of these eyes, and although they are one of My Dog’s trademark pieces, each is individual and independent of the others. The most amazing thing about this one is how you can look at it and in your mind know that it is on a flat surface, but the skillful artwork has a depth and the shine on the iris makes it look aqueous, just like a real eye. Magnificent in so many ways.

2451. Cheltenham 2019 (1)

What a cracker! This is an absolutely stunning piece by Dice67, AKA Andy ‘Dice’ Davies, the architect and organiser of the Cheltenham Paint Festival which was held this year on 5-8 September. This colourful piece is a portrait of Debbie Harry and I think is probably the best freehand piece I have seen from Dice67 yet.

I felt it appropriate to start my Cheltenham posts with this piece and I’ll be interweaving more of them into my regular posts over the coming weeks/months.

I have not been to Cheltenham since I was a little kid, and so on this visit I was able to catch up with some of the pieces from last year’s festival too, and they really are rather impressive. Dice67 has tried to find new walls each year of the festival so that the old ones can remain in all their glory alongside the new ones rather than being over-painted. Let’s hope he doesn’t run out of walls!

Dice67, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Dice67, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

Back to this piece… it is so beautifully worked, especially the amazing reflections on the glasses, and this is all a far cry from his stencils which was my introduction to his work. There was a festival theme this year which I think was books and in this piece the link is that Debbie Harry will be atending the Cheltenham Book Festival later this year – Dice67 is rather hoping that she’ll be photographed standing next to this portrait of her. A great way to introduce the Cheltenham Paint Festival to Natural Adventures.