that my child may have peace

'If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.'

'It is not only the living who are killed in war.'

These two quotes; the first is Thomas Paine, the second Isaac Asimov, together are the inspiration for the painting in progress.

It's hard to make it out at this early stage, but it is two images. The top part of the painting is Whangamata January 2010 with his granddaughter and great granddaughter.

The lower image is based on the photo of Mac and his tank crew taken in 1944 while they rested after 3 days trapped inside their tank during a German bombardment.


I'm almost certain that when Mac and other young men set off to the war they did not have Tom Paine's words motivating their actions. But I'm pretty sure that ten or twenty years later they would not have wanted their children and grandchildren to experience anything like what they did at Cassino.

The painting will measure roughly 120cm square. For the first time I am using unstretched canvas. It's a heavy Indian cotton, quadruple primed; three white, the last black.

I've been using a black primer for awhile now. It presents a challenge when it comes to marking out the composition, but I prefer the luminosity it gives to colour - or possibly that is just in my imagination. The challenge ahead is going to be not getting too detailed and maintaining a sense of energy.