At last, here she is, a painting I started on back in January 2021 and put the last touches to early August this year (2025). ’She’ is one Sabrina Spellman (played by Kiernan Shipka) from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a Netflix series based on the Archie series of comics of the same name, a series I loved at first, the Vancouver Island backdrop serving beautifully for that New England/Salem feel that I adore (though Sabrina lives in the fictional town of Greendale), but which petered out around season 2 after (spoiler alert) her romance will Harvey fell apart and she signed the Book of the Beast. Incidentally, The Witch of Greendale was a strong contender for the title of this painting.

There were a number of times I felt that I’d finished Spell Bound, but I know now in hindsight that I was rushing things. Originally, I did a background that was just blue sky with a crescent moon and a few stars which kinda set Sabrina off nicely, but I really wasn’t too happy with it: I just felt it needed something more. With the 2023 Williamson Open fast approaching, I just decided to go with it, get it framed and enter it into the exhibition and hope for the best. So, I got it framed….and disliked the background even more! Ugh. So, on impulse, I slapped on another background that took me about 30 mins, a background I actually much preferred.

Finally the painting was ready to be entered into the Open. Except it wasn’t. Because it wouldn’t dry in time! Aaargh!!!! Again, with hindsight, I’m glad, because I wanted her to have something more for the background as I’ve mentioned, and there were other bits about Sabrina herself that I re-did that definitely made her look better, but I was so disappointed not to get to enter her into the Williamson that year.

My very first vision for the painting was to have fir trees in some kind of sweeping panorama behind Sabrina, so that influenced heavily what the end result became. Having Photoshop was helpful as well – I bluetoothed over a photo of the painting onto my Mac and messed around with different ideas, the image below – which I prefer to the finished oil in a way – being pretty much what the final painting is, though I did try and do the fog with a reddish tinge, but my skills with oils just didn’t extend that far, so white fog it was.

You would’ve thought I’d have it ready for the 2024 Open exhibition, but nope! The work I did on it for the background took me a while and it just simply wasn’t going to be dry in time. But like before, there were things that I wasn’t overly happy with and a few adjustments were made. I can’t tell you how frustrating it’s been to have Spell Bound just about done, only for me to have to postpone its entry into any exhibition due to my Virgoan trait of perfectionism (medical help is being sought 😝).

But now it’s done (honestly), and if you wanna see the fruits of 4 years labour, you can see it at the 2025 Williamson Open from 10th October – 13th December. The Williamson is open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm except for Fri which is 10am-9pm.

Thanks must go to Caroline for her kind appraisal of the painting and for putting up with my messages about name ideas that included the likes of The Witch of Greendale, Sabrina, Crimson Twilight, Miss Spellman, The Bell Witch (Caroline’s idea), Ceremony, and others besides. And if anyone’s wondering why it’s Spell Bound and not Spellbound, it’s because they simply mean different things, the former meaning that she’s on her way to cast a spell, similar to the idea of being ‘Homeward Bound’, whereas Spellbound means being bound by a spell, but I’m sure you knew all that anyway! I guess either title would work, but the former seemed the better fit for the image. It was also a kind of happy coincidence that about a week before the title popped into my head I’d been to see one of my favourite drummers of all time touring his autobiography, one Peter Clarke, aka Budgie from Siouxsie and the Banshees, a band close to my heart (though arguably the best thing Budgie did was Boomerang by The Creatures, a duo consisting of just him and Siouxsie. I suppose they could have called themselves Siouxsie and a Banshee? Maybe not). Anyway, I think Spellbound was the first Banshees single I ever bought back in about 1981/82, and, if you like your trivia, Spellbound was featured during the end credits on the last episode of the fourth season of Stranger Things. Now you know! Oh, and when I went to see Budgie, one Will Sergeant, guitarist with Echo and the Bunnymen, was asking him the questions. And who did the Williamson find to help judge which pictures were allowed into the 2025 Open? Yup! Will Sergeant. And no, I didn’t give him a backhander to get my painting accepted. So there! 😋

Lastly, the painting is NFS (Not For Sale), but (and I’m being a bit tongue-in-cheek here) I have put a price on it, as I may have to for next years WSA exhibition, of £100,000. For one, it’s not really for sale, so I’m putting something silly on it that’s out of reach for people. Why is it not for sale? Well, it’s my baby, so parting with it will cost a lot, but Spell Bound has this sense of connection to my friend Alan who died just scant months before I started it. Alan was a brilliant artist and tattooist himself and his kind and complimentary words about my work always meant a lot to me. Spell Bound in particular I wish I could show him, but alas, not to be. I also figured that, as I see footballers rolling around in the grass for often as much as £100,000 a week (if not a hell of a lot more), then I can ask the same for something I spent 4 years on and that will last (and hopefully be enjoyed) for lifetimes to come.

And on that cheeky note, I’m outta here,

Jimbob 🙂

P.S. Did I say Spell Bound was done? I think I did, but it actually needs a proper coat of varnish. As the oil paint won’t be completely dry for at least another 6 months, I can’t varnish it properly, which it needs because in a certain light you can see places that are glossier than others as is evident amongst the clouds in the finished version at the top of this post. I have used re-touch varnish on it (which still allows the paint to ‘breathe’ and thus, dry) to get it exhibition ready but, to my eyes, it doesn’t seem to have made any difference to its look. So it may be the WSA Exhibition 2026 before anyone see it 100% finished.

And one other thing about Spell Bound – it looks better in a dimmer, warmer light. For whatever reason, the cold light of day makes it look…well, cold. Thankfully the Williamson Open this year is in the Autumn, so the gloomier days and indoor lighting may help show the painting at its best. Here’s hoping! ☺️

P.P.S.

I feel I’ve got to say something about the planned introduction of digital ID’s here in the UK (and I’m going to add this now to all my posts from now on until this insanity is defeated). It’s imperative for our freedom in this country, and indeed the world at large, that we say ‘no’ to these digital ID’s. Otherwise we’re just allowing an invisible prison to be built around us all the while believing ourselves to be free, like rats in a maze, free to roam wherever the little plastic tunnels allow them to go.

I strongly encourage you to watch the following 2 videos:

The Agenda: Their Vision – Your Future

FINAL WARNING: Dr. Mike Yeadon

It’s not just our own lives, but that of our children and our children’s children ad infinitum. I’m currently writing more about this stuff, so keep an eye out 😊