When I found this beautiful Dulux 63 paint chart in early 2023 and realised it would be exactly sixty years old, I knew it had to be my first project of the year. Here it is, before and after its transformation!

Telephones, vinyl, newspapers, television, magazines, air travel, space travel, scandal, violence, optimism, new ideas, pop music, great fashion, intricate desserts and fifty gorgeous fresh, clear colours.

This is the first time I’ve known the exact age of a vintage paint chart and 1963 is a year rich in material to draw on. Martin Luther King, Jackie Kennedy, Nina Simone, Christine Keeler, Jean Shrimpton, David Bailey, Sylvia Plath, Twiggy, Andy Warhol and Hitchcock are all woven into the work - some more subtly than others - if you can’t find them feel free to ask me where they are! I spent six weeks painting this chart and became completely immersed in the era.

When I paint complete colour cards like this one I’m trying to craft them like a piece of writing. The visual language that I’m building up seems to have its own grammar and set of possibilities, and it’s evolving as the work develops, which is really exciting. On this chart many of the colours appear twice (once as gloss and once as eggshell), presenting a brilliant new opportunity for criss-crossing connections between the paintings.

Columbine Pink is one of those colours. The dominant event of 1963 was the assassination of JFK and Columbine pink is the colour of Jackie Kennedy’s iconic suit and hat on the day of the shooting. I’ve painted the split seconds before and after his death, as she turns her head from the left to the right. The two paintings are very similar - they’re almost a mirror image of each other - but between those two moments everything has changed.

Amongst the epic events of the year I’ve painted many plain thoughts and moments which did not go down in history, because these were happening in 1963 too. The paint chart paintings seem perfectly suited to describing the constant clash of momentous and mundane which is such an odd feature of daily life, and which I used to find so hard to put my finger on until I found this way of working.

The print quality of The 1963 is gorgeous. The paint chart is printed exactly the same size as the original and every tiny crease and brushstroke is there to see. Each time I make these prints I’m blown away by the quality that can be achieved. The overall size is A3, so framing is easy peasy, and it’s printed onto beautiful 100% cotton 305gsm soft-textured paper. They’re signed, dated and embossed and each print comes with a signed certificate of authenticity and a text about the work. They’re wrapped in tissue with a gold seal and delivered in a sturdy tube, so they are gift-ready if you’re sending as a present.

DELIVERY INFORMATION

UK delivery: £5.50 Royal Mail First Class Signed For

Rest of the world: £15 Royal Mail International Tracked

Please note: depending on your country of residence, you may be liable for import duties.

Returns: You can return your print within 14 days of your order being placed. Please return it in perfect condition, and your refund will be processed using the payment method you used to buy the print.

I process, wrap and post all orders myself from my studio in South East London so please feel free to get in touch anytime and I’ll do my best to answer any questions you might have. All parcels have a tracking number.