Emblem 134

Information and materials



Vesti la Giubba is the tragic aria of the clown (alias poor Yorick) in I Pagliacci, Mascagni’s popular one act opera.  Usually translated as On with the Motley (to use the conventional rather than Shandean spelling) it refers to the clown’s dressing up yet again to amuse the crowd even though his heart is breaking.  The motley used here is from the marble page provided (in two sizes) to make the musical stave with the suggestion of random notes.  I often think (although my heart is seldom breaking) of the clown’s ‘on with the greaspaint’ (which is part of the motley) when setting out my palette with colours for the day; and music is always at the centre of my enterprise.
Collage, pencil, watercolour have been used though the main feature of the work is recycling, a constant aspect of what I try to do…