Uncle Slippers

Small painting series by Pelmo. Acrylic on ply. 10" by 8½".

Well that looks like a bloody wholesome day. Neice visits Uncle Slippers for the day, they perform a puppet show and watch a film.

I originally played with the puppet concept when I painted a big wall at ValleyFest in 2016. I painted a sad fat man busking in the street, dancing vicariously through an agile little marionette. I put a tragic expression on his face and sagging rolls of skin which I grew to dislike afterwards. I later moved away from tragedy toward playfulness, giving a sense of lightness to the mass. I started painting my big characters more like inflatables and less like a burst paddling pool. The nature of public street art is that everything you do gets documented by a third party and becomes indelible from society. Other early pieces that I regret have been printed in books and sold.

I'll definitely revisit this series and sort his trousers out. I'm not happy with the trousers. I am however particularly happy with the tippy-toes in the hug.

On the sofa image, look at the scratches and bumps under his outstretched arms. That's from where I played around with different size chairs until I hit the sweet spot.

These were exhibited in my Upfest Gallery show in March 2020 and nobody commented on them. I totally thought they'd be popular but this series got ignored. Hence, I never bothered to make prints of them. But I would if someone asked.