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Jacqueline England🎨's avatar

Wonderful, as always. That's an intense painting, unnerving.

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Kathy Hopewell's avatar

Agreed, Jacqueline, and I'm sure Leonora actually 'saw' this vision.

Spending time with this work, and especially seeing it 'IRL' (at Wakefield gallery this March), was a real privilege. It's the kind of art that enriches life.

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Dionne/D Stevens's avatar

Your observations totally inspire me. Thank u for sharing & exciting us with your truly creative work.

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Kathy Hopewell's avatar

Thank you, Dionne. Comments like yours make it all worthwhile!

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bethan bithell's avatar

Thanks Kathy, I love these posts. They always give me a new way of seeing. Happy writing xxX

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Tim Clark's avatar

I find this a genuinely frightening painting, or I did until you drew a narrative out of it. Fascinating. Pleased to hear you are working on your next novel. Here's a book idea, though I'm sure the copyright/permission issues would be huge - but a book just of the paintings you have chosen, and your writings on each.? I'd buy it. Probably. Depending on the price....

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Kathy Hopewell's avatar

I think you've found the flaw in your own suggestion, Tim: permissions would be difficult and expensive! I regard the inclusion of the images as fair use here because the text would make no sense otherwise and it is educational in that I am (hopefully) making the work better known. Also, I don't get any money for it.

So there won't be a book, but all the posts are gathered on my Substack in one place and that'll have to do!

Well done for persevering with a picture you didn't at first like. It's taken me a while to come to this reading of it and at first I understood the word race as a contest rather than as a type of creature (if you see what I mean), so I was trying to work out who was winning!

Of course, there's always an unwritten disclaimer on these flights of fancy that they are just my interpretation, not the interpretation: maybe it is a joke about a horse race?

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Mary McIntyre's avatar

Gosh, thanks Kathy! I enjoyed your story & the painting. Have a good sabbatical & I look forward to your next book. X

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