Among The Clouds - The Empire Strikes Back by Mark Davies

‘You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds.’

Not my words, they were spoken by the ‘smooth operator’ Lando to Princess Leia during ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ all those years ago in 1980. 

I was approached by the team behind a brilliant annual charitable event called ‘Invasion Colchester’ to ask if I would like to be involved with their charitable project. Given the perfect link to a large part of my portfolio and the fact that I have been so pro-active in the city for close to ten years, along with my willingness to support charities through my art, it was a ‘no brainer’.

‘Invasion Colchester’ takes over the city and gives people the opportunity to meet characters from Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Doctor Who, Predators, Jurassic Park, Movie Princesses and more, as well as your favourite Comic Book and Movie Superheroes, plus Show Cars from TV and film! It is an epic event and so perfectly aligned to my ‘Lost in Hollywood’ collection.

I took feedback on board from the team who were keen to deliver a striking (excuse the pun!) Star Wars inspired piece that featured an array of characters from ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ that weren’t always the most obvious. My intention was to create a piece that had a movie poster quality to it albeit without any wording overlaid. It is a tricky and complex style of working to achieve a solid balance with a combination of dominant and subtle detail, but I am so happy with the result!

I was going to list out all of those who feature but that would spoil it, it’s over to you to identify them all!

I have created and donated a unique ‘diamond dusted and hand embellished premium canvas with a stunning hand painted custom frame that will be auctioned with ALL monies going to St Helena Hospice, Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity, and Mind (Mid & North East Essex)  

This project was a lot of fun and as I write this the month before the event, I am so excited to be able to be there on the day and I hope the donated piece will raise much needed funds for the charities. 

The force is strong with this one!