A family divided

I have been fascinated to learn about Katherine Vaux and her very large family.
I have learnt of the unique time in English history, and how this influenced the fortunes of the Throckmorton family.
Katherine’s family lived through the turmoil of the Reformation, some of her sons remained Catholic (notably Robert) and some turned to the Protestant religion (notably Nicholas). Whichever choice they made, her children and their descendants faced danger and deceit. This being influenced greatly by the changing monarchs of the time and their preferred religion.

A family divided

Charcoal and Pastel on Kozo 17" x17"

This piece is a culmination of many of the concepts that I have been drawing on in connection with Katherine Vaux.
The overall shape represents the flower of a strawberry; this flower shape has been torn apart through the centre creating a divide. In addition there is an element of the strawberries from the dress in Katherine's portrait on the stairs of the Court, sometimes hidden, sometimes visible depicting times of danger and times when in favour. The two sets of colours also suggesting times to shine brightly in the forefront and maybe times to hide in the shadows.
The image has lots of layers, this is a feature of my drawings that depict the many different layers within our identity and how our identity changes and grows as time passes by.