This set of work was inspired by a chance visit to the Musée de Cluny in Paris in the early 2000's. Their collection of tapestries, the 15th century Lady and the Unicorn. The arrangement of the work around five senses, the weave of the fabric, their scale, and their age. 

Initially I used custom metal stencils and a gesso medium to put words on to the canvas, one for each of the senses and the main piece which says on the tapestry "à mon seul desir". This could be translated as "according to my desire/will alone". My interpretation extends only so far as the desire to paint, and to combine the inspiration of the tapestries with modern abstract forms. To convey emotion through gesture, paint layers, and the arrangement of a limited number of colours. 

I did not write down at the time what I was painting or why back in 2007 when this started. I have framed only two of the original large paintings, seeing how the remainder would age if stored away and forgotten. I dropped the stencilling, and continued to explore the basic geometric pattern of this series at different scales. Also with different emphasis on how solid the colouring could be, with an ageing gestural glaze coated over the top. 

The olive and brown of the painting "touch" provided the leap into the next series "Leeway".