About the artwork
“Sailing into The Sun” is one of a body of work created using frames with a history.
New life breathed into a set of Vintage Versailles Frames!
These ornate beautifully wrought frames once graced the huge glittering Versailles Palace halls, alcoves and walls.
Known as the “Sun King,” Louis XIV (1638-1715), a ruler who chose the Sun as his emblem radically transformed Versailles making it the seat of France’s government by the time of his death. Louis was obsessed with water: –
“From the outset Louis attached a supreme importance to these water effects. Their virtuosity formed the star turn of a tour of the gardens… The effects were the work of engineers whose machines made Versailles… an artistic wonder.” (Spawforth, T.) Versailles: A Biography of a Palace” (St. Martin’s Press, 2008).
I recently visited Versailles, staying in one of the converted coach houses with a beautiful courtyard garden. I walked in the formal Palace gardens and saw the renovated wrought ironwork. It was such a different world!
Bearing their own story in the wear marks of many years, I am re-cycling some of these vintage Versailles frames to encase a colourful group of mixed media paintings. They are inspired by journeys on the sea, and the sharp air of the mountains. I have included the Sun in each one, to honour Louis the Sun King, as well as blue birds that symbolise both happiness and the Sun. I hope that the Sun and Happiness will grace the lives of their new owners.