Dark Matters - Paula Rego - Hey Diddle Diddle

Paula Rego - Hey Diddle Diddle, a photo by Miriam Ward on Flickr.

I have recently been looking at another Paula Rego painting (Dance) during my time volunteering in a local primary school where we recreated this painting through collage. Coming across this monochrome Paula Rego piece was quite a surprise! Nursery Rhymes are historically so linked with bright colours, simplicity and fun that this painting really jumped out at me as very different and challenging. The characters have almost been given a dark or sinister aspect, it seems to me as though this is the characters enjoying themselves when the children have their backs turned and nobody is looking! I think the way the sky has been created, and the precipice the girl, dog and cat are balanced on looks so precarious, simply created through the vast sky and line of safe ground. I like the way the hatching has been used for the floor and for the fur of the cat, contrasted with the careful shading and detail of the bush and the cow in the sky. The fallen over stool gives a really manic feel to the scene which really appeals to me!