Scott Elk
End of the Rainbow, 2022.
Stoneware ceramic, gold lustre
12cm x 19cm approx.

This small artwork I wanted to try using underglaze pencils on clay in much the same way I use charcoal on paper when drawing. This was drawn from a life drawing session with a model. The gold lustre addition came after the first bisque firing, and second clear glaze fire, and inspired the text below, providing a narrative, helping to complete the artwork.

Pig Boy worked hard and got everything he wanted until he was sick. He was a piggy. His unrelenting grind to explore the rainbow drained the colour and the magic from the skies. He learnt the hard way the Scissor Sisters were on the money when they sang about Emerald City being a Crystal Town; within 10 years his best friends were dead. All the energy he kept in his chest was always escaping through excitement, but it was rarely ever put back by the people around him. At the end of the rainbow all the magic had gone, and the glittering mess was just a hall of mirrors bouncing pop songs back and fourth until they lost all meaning. His experience had left him with this one true thing to cling to; a booby prize of sorts, the kind forged in the darkness, the kind of thing that shimmers in the light like a cheap trick with no substance. The End of the Rainbow.

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