Blessings - Golden Legend of St Stephen 2016

Joe Machine created *Blessings - Golden Legend of St Stephen* with paint on canvas. The artist has used earthy tones, umber and ochre, to depict a series of figures in what appears to be a sacred ceremony. I'm picturing Joe building up the figures, line by line, maybe referring to a tapestry or illustration. The surface looks stained and matte, so I wonder, did he use thin washes of paint, almost like watercolor? Look at how the garments fall, in long elegant folds. The artist has used a limited tonal range, so the clothing has a decorative, patterned quality. It makes me think of Giotto, but also British artists like Stanley Spencer, who brought this flattened medieval style into the 20th century. Painting is always about seeing something in a new way, taking inspiration and then going through the process of making it your own, finding the feeling and rhythm.