Remember, remember the 5th of November
Week 44's colours are Deep Purple, Sea Green, Khaki & Peach
It’s fireworks season here in the UK. We’ve just had Diwali (the Hindu Festival of Lights) and Halloween and this week it’s Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night, celebrated annually on the 5th of November.
Guy Fawkes (1570-1606) himself might not be familiar to you, but you’ll have seen his stylised image before as it’s been adopted by the computer hacking group Anonymous and various protest movements around the world after it was made famous in the book and the later 2006 movie V for Vendetta.
So who was Guy Fawkes? He’s someone famous for what he didn’t achieve, rather than what he achieved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
He was a member of a group of English Catholics who attempted to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on the 5th of November of that year. The aim was to assassinate King James I and to restore a Catholic monarchy.
Fawkes wasn’t the mastermind, that was Robert Catesby, but he became the most famous (or notorious) conspirator because he was the one caught red-handed in the cellar beneath the House of Lords guarding thirty six barrels of gunpowder.
The plot had been betrayed when a Member of Parliament received an anonymous letter, imploring him not to attend Parliament that day. A subsequent search of the building found Fawkes and the gunpowder.
Fawkes (also known as Guido Fawkes due to his time fighting in Spain) was arrested and taken to the Tower of London where he was tortured and eventually executed in January 1606: hung, drawn and quartered.
When the news came out that the plot had been foiled, Londoners lit bonfires in celebration of the King’s survival. This developed into the annual tradition still celebrated today with burning effigies of Fawkes, fireworks to symbolise the gunpowder and the rhyme Remember, remember the fifth of November. Originally a Protestant celebration, it’s now more of a secular Autumn festival.
The lantern that he was going to use to light the gunpowder is on display at the wonderful Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, part of an esoteric collection that I’d highly recommend visiting if you’re in the area.
Whilst looking for paintings or illustrations of fireworks to use in this week’s prompt I came across a number of woodcuts advertising the wares of the Hirayama Fireworks Company - these are from the late 19th century and Japanese. Aren’t they great?
Read more about Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot here and here and have a look at more beautiful images of 1800s Japanese fireworks here and here.
‘Night Bomb Shells’, wood block print for Hirayama Firework Company, artist unknown, ~ 1880
Colour Combination
The colours this week are Deep Purple, Sea Green, Khaki & Peach. Use the colours along with a contrasting dark and neutral light colour to create an artwork in any medium or style. Please share this post with someone who likes colour and might like this weekly dollop of colour and creativity.
Join us in the private Facebook group Creative Prompts. seeing what you create with the prompts is always interesting. If you’re posting on Instagram, please tag #coloricombo and #estemacleod
Art Bundles for Good
This event happens annually and I am once again taking part along with eighty other artists, there are 100+ art courses and resources on offer this year.
Bundles for good will be on sale for five days only and 25% of the profits go to the Uganda Partnership, a bootstrapped charity helping single mothers in that country. Almost $150,000 has been raised for them so far.
Get more information and sign up here from Thursday 6 November.