GARDEN 5

Pots.

Lots of pots.

On a lot.

Terracota spots.

I ain't got.


NAMASTÉ

Don't forget to click on the image to see an enlargement

GARDEN 4

Roses, roses, roses.

Subtle shades and fragrant noses.

Colour me pink.

Colour me wild.

Mix those tints and wash.

You'll follow, but you'll never catch.


NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 3

Gardens exist on many levels don't they?

Sensory, emotive and rational.

High, medium and low.

When you see a garden do you just see what's at eye-level?

Do you gaze up at the sky and absorb the tree-tops?

Are you only there to smell the scent of your favourite rose?

And how about the lowly ground-cover and shrubs?

Did you miss them?

If you did, you did.


NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 2

Have you hugged anything today?

Tree, person, dog, canary (well maybe not).

Get out of the house.

Feel the bark.

See the seeds.

Hear the breeze rustling the leaves.


NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 1

The next twelve images will be a walk around my cousin's garden, which is rather special - not only because its a rather nice garden and that it was the creation of my cousin, but also that it exists and gives her and many other people much pleasure.

Start your garden today - even if it is just a cactus, in a pot, on your kitchen window-ledge.

Make your life prettier, more meaningful and connected with nature.


NAMASTÉ

Don't forget to click on the image to see an enlargement.

BEACH THERAPY

Get down to the beach.

Follow the crowds and find your own patch.

Let the kids run wild, like your pooch on a winter's day.

Feel the hot sand between your toes.

See the surf crash and retreat.

Know that nature surrounds you and you are connected at the sub-atomic level.

Invite the warming rays onto your solar plexus.

Forget about the traffic queues on the way home.


NAMASTÉ

SHACK

Tell me you have a boring life and I'll tell you to open your eyes, open your mind and get off your backside.

For, around every NEW corner lies the unexpected, the new and the fresh, to change your day.

Routine is the birthplace of monotony, the crucible of mental slavery.

Here, in this corner of a city high school (a concrete obstruction to learning), I found true spirit.

Who was it who had been given free rein to paint the shack with mind-shifting colour (where none existed before, except the blandness of pale plaster)?

From whence came the origins of his/her culture?

And what happened to the rest of the tin?


NAMASTÉ

POOLSIDE

Here I am.

It is 42 degrees outside.

It is 42 degrees inside.

I couldn't sleep.

The mosquitos bit.

Show me the cool, the pool.

In my dreams it appears to refresh.

But leaves me, still, helplessly overheated.


NAMASTÉ

SPECIAL DAY

Every now and again something happens that makes you just love Homo sapiens, doesn't it?

Imagine that you were me, on this balmy day, sitting sipping a chilled beer, overlooking the beach, chatting with friends.

The bar is due to shut in fifteen minutes, but this evening it will remain open for another hour on the off-chance that a large group of estate agents will be coming along after their hard day's conference.

Suddenly, from around the corner of the elevated walkway, we become aware of the sound of excited adults (almost a contradiction of terms when realising they are conditioned, trained estate agents).

And then the object of their excitement becomes clear, when, like the wearing of masks at a masked ball, their pent-up emotions are given the all-clear.

Kites.

Each person trying to catch the slightest breeze, to keep their hatched personalities a-fly.

Giggling, chatting, offering tips, they communicate - at last.


NAMASTÉ

Don't forget to click on the image to see an enlargement

THE PALACE PARK

Here, in the palace grounds in Oeiras, Portugal I found garden designs on a grand scale.

And it took me quite by surprise.

Such was the variety of plants, architecture and symbolism that I quite lost track of time.

Lakes, ponds, fountains and the ubiquitous Portuguese "Azulejos" kept me wondering about the true meaning behind their creation.

While the stream that meandered past the palace frontage spoke of splendid parties and courtly behaviour.


NAMASTÉ

THE PARK

Sometimes a scene will strike you as being out of place.

Or you are.

Here in this small largo in Lisbon I suddenly felt I was being transported to another time and locale.

And wafting on the breeze I smelt croissant, heard French accents and the familiar sounds of a piano accordian.

Strange.


NAMASTÉ

BOATING

Right in the heart of Lisbon, a small, placid, boating lagoon nestles between the trees.

This was not the day when weekend pleasure riders would form orderly, yet excited queues, to row onto the becalmed waters - rather one when the administrators were taking a respite and seen to be enjoying their bbq.

And I could enjoy the atmosphere and visual possibilities without interruption.


NAMASTÉ

AIRPORT

I wanted this blog address to be, quite simply "portfolio. blogspot", but it seems that about half a million people already had that idea.

So after about eight attempts I got landed with "paintography. blogspot".

Now that doesn't adequately cover what I want to do on this blog, but it does have possibilities.

Last December I held an exhibition with that title, the idea being to show some of my photographic work which had a painterly feeling (Mostly achieved through Photoshop).

And so I have decided that the phrase is now mine.

Viewers will be by invitation only.

Don't forget that when you click on the image you can see it enlarged.

This image here, titled "Airport" had nothing to do with manipulation and everything to do with wanting to create the idea of movement - people rushing to catch planes, pushing trollies, being stressed out.


NAMASTÉ

Don't forget to click on the image to see an enlargement.







NB; All the images on this site are my sole copyright - mel sewell 2005. You may not download the images for any use whatsoever


Statement

Is man destroying the planet?
How much will it change in our lifetime?
My desire is to capture the beauty of nature wherever I go.
If I can depict it in harmony with man, so much the better.
Mostly black and white.
My current work is a limited edition, boxed, portfolio of 21 A3+,
black and white images, signed and numbered.

Exhibitions

1984 Visions Gallery, London
1985 Aspects Gallery, London
1987 Richmond Gallery, Windsor
1989 Mayfair Gallery, London
1994 Galeria 12a, Lisbon
1995 Galeria 12a, Lisbon
1996 Expoarte96, Lisbon
1998 Galeria Potthoff, Lisbon
2001 Own website
2002 Represented by Britart/Eyestorm
2004 Docklands Development East, London
2004 Galeria S.Rita, Sintra, Portugal
2005 Paintography Blogsite at www.paintography.blogspot.com
2005 CAD05, Cidadela de Cascais, Portugal
2005 Photgraphy course lecturer, Portugal
2006 Saatchi-Gallery on-line at www.saatchi-gallery.com
2007 Black and white images Blogspot at www.melsbwportfolio.blogspot.com
2007 Eyestorm Gallery, Exeter: "Retro" limited edition, boxed portfolio of 21 A3+,
black and white Giclée images, signed and numbered.


Publications

1984 Blitz, London
1985 Creative Review, London
1994 O Capital, Lisbon
1996 O Capital, Lisbon
1996 DNA magazine, Lisbon
1999 Atlantis magazine
2007 The Western Muse Magazine
Art in Devon
Black and White Photography Magazine
British Journal of Photography
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation website


Awards

1997 Sierra Club, honourable mention
1998 Volto ao Mundo magazine, Portugal:
Honorable mention x 2,
Best black and white landscape,
Best finalist.


Collectors

There are over 70 collectors of my work, worldwide.


Contact

Mel Sewell, 18, Deanesly Way, Wincanton, Somerset BA9 9RG.
T: (0044) 196331757
E: mel_sewell@yahoo.co.uk