Heaven & Hell; Clytie.

John Martin, Clytie, 1814.

I first saw this painting by John Martin over the summer, at the Laing Gallery.

I visited several times before the exhibition ended in June.

I love this painting for many reasons - but I think the epic scale, combined with the solitude and smallness of the lovelorn lady, are what makes it a particularly striking scene.

The exhibition was entitled Heaven and Hell. While the colours and use of light would suggest this painting to lean towards the Heaven side, the sad story of unrequited love which it depicts made me feel that it was the only work in the exhibition which bridged the binary, showing a side of Hell, too.

Image Source.

"I don't feel anything. Am I wicked?"

Fuschia, ink drawing.

Steerpike comes to Fuschia's attic, from the pages of Mervyn Peake's handwritten manuscript.

(Images from the Gormenghast section of the official Peake website.)

I first read Meryvn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy when I was about 14. Rather than being confused by its complexities and the gradual descent into complete chaos, I was always enthralled, especially by the character of Lady Fuschia Groan:

"...a girl of about fifteen with long, rather wild black hair. She was gauche in movement and in a sense, ugly of face, but with how small a twist might she not suddenly have become beautiful. Her sullen mouth was full and rich – her eyes smouldered."

The idea of a castle in which a young woman could lose herself and hide from her family for a fortnight was always fascinating to me - in my head, my bedroom became Fuschia's attic haven. I think the Gormenghast books have always appealed to me because they are just so beautifully grotesque - and they are still as contemporary as when they were first published, over 6o years ago.

This year marks Mervyn Peake's centenary.

He really was a remarkable man, whose creativity flourished despite a debilitating disease - his writing and his artwork have always amazed and inspired me.

Tomorrow, an exhibition entitled "Lines of Flight" opens at the Laing Gallery in Newcastle. It's one of the biggest Peake retrospectives ever staged. Not only will the cast of Gormenghast be present, but also illustrations by Peake of some of Lewis Carroll's characters, as well as villains from Stevenson's Treasure Island & Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

I think I am the busiest I have ever been, but I know I will find time to pay them a visit.

You can read about other Peake events taking place on the Mervyn Peake blog, which is curated by his eldest son Sebastian Peake, here.