Clown in a Landscape
Copyright © 2017 Bryan Charnley – Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 clearance.
Oil on Canvas, 14 x 20 ins. 1983
A painting in which we observe a blissfully sleeping clown and his nemesis; the swollen pink cranium poised to attack the clowns peace of mind on waking. Better to stay in the landscape of the dream where the yellow river/road winds through the mountains falling as a waterfall into a densely wooded valley. On the other side of the clown’s head the valley is barren, a dried out river bed, a canyon leading to the desert and a distant mountain range. Two volcanoes rise out of the dry scrubland. One is active in every sense having a face and a smoking summit from which black clouds form in the sky. This could be evening or early morning before the sleeping clown awakes.
