Celebrating Purple Day at Pop! Goes The Easel Exhibition!
Purple Haze: Celebrating My Iconic Purple Paintings at my Norwich Art Exhibition, Saturday 2 December
On Saturday 2 December 2023 I celebrated ‘Purple Saturday’ at my exhibition, ‘Pop! Goes The Easel’ at the Crypt Gallery in Norwich. This was a spontaneous idea to theme the day purple, in tribute to the iconic purple-painted icons in my collection of Pop Art portrait paintings.
These icons included Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix and – of course – my Purple Rain-inspired Prince paintings, who have all been captured in my unique Jackson Pollock-inspired Pop Art portrait painting style.
While my collection of ‘By Kerwin’ paintings feature every a wide range of colour schemes and palettes, it was fun to theme everything purple for the day. This included purple clothes, purple balloons, purple lighting, purple shots, and my purple painting prints that were available to purchase on the day. I also had my ‘Pop! Goes The Easel’ cake on display that had arrived before.
By Kerwin Purple Painted Music Icons
My Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix and Prince paintings are among the most popular in my collection. While this is in part due to the iconic legacies of each of these artists, my paintings capture them in unique ways, and the purple helps make them particularly eye-catching to visitors at my exhibitions and to my online shop.
My Diana Ross painting captures her in an elegant and gazing pose during The Supremes era; the choice of purple colour helps add a further sense of elegance and sophistication to this piece. The use of purple combined with the action-painted cyan and pink splashes also conveys a cosmic sense to this painting that invites the viewer to explore further, which I particularly like too.
My Jimi Hendrix painting – inspired by the elements of his Axis: Bold As Love album cover (read about the meaning behind this album artwork in my blog post here), utilises purple to convey a different mood in this painting. The purple here lends a very psychedelic feel to this portrait, which, coupled with the paisley and floral elements, captures Hendrix at the peak of his enigmatic 1970s powers.
The purple in my Prince painting needs no further explanation! Different layers of purple here interact with orange and gold for a warm and stylish finish.
Purple Prints of My Paintings
As expected, it was great to see prints of my purple-painted icons heading to new homes throughout my two-week exhibition. I had canvas and paper prints available for purchase in different sizes – I’m very grateful for those who purchased artwork either for themselves or for loved ones as Christmas presents this year.
You can explore my online shop and purchase prints of my purple paintings (and also from the rest of my collection!) in different sizes from £35-£75, including delivery. Fast worldwide delivery. All prints purchased on my website will be canvas prints.
The Use of the Colour Purple in Art
Purple, a colour associated with mystery, royalty, and spirituality, has found diverse and significant applications within art. Artists throughout history have harnessed the unique characteristics of purple to evoke various emotions and convey distinct messages.
In portraiture, purple often signifies regality and power, with historical figures draped in rich purple fabrics to emphasise their status. The use of purple in abstract art can evoke a sense of enigma and depth, as the colour possesses both warm and cool undertones.
Additionally, purple plays a crucial role in expressing spirituality, as seen in religious art where it is employed to symbolise transcendence and the divine. The versatility of purple allows artists to create harmonious or contrasting compositions, contributing to the visual language of art by infusing works with an aura of luxury, spirituality, or introspection.
Purple – lying somewhere between the traditionally gender-stereotyped colours of blue and pink on the colour wheel – also contains an air of both mystique and universality to it.
I love painting with purple for these reasons above. It’s also a versatile (and also challenging) colour to paint with, as the addition of red or blue can easily create ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ shades of purple, with each shade conveying different moods.
I’ve also written a more in-depth blog post about the use of purple in art and Pop Art – read this here and let me know what you think.
What does the colour purple mean to you in art? Which of my paintings out of Diana Ross, Jimi Hendrix and Prince is your favourite?
My full range of Jackson Pollock-inspired acrylic paintings can be viewed at www.bykerwin.com – the originals and prints of these are available to purchase, with worldwide delivery. You can follow my art progress on Instagram and Facebook.
