James Hart Dyke: A Year with MI6

t was a top-secret mission he couldn't refuse. Painter James Hart Dyke was assigned to shadow spooks for a year, sketchbook in hand. What did he learn about their mysterious world?
Dog Walker 2010, oil on canvas. The most everyday activities, such as walking a dog, can be used as a way of meeting a contact without attracting suspicion

The Headquarters, Vauxhall Cross, London 2011, oil on canvas. The SIS HQ, on the south side of the Thames, beside Vauxhall Bridge, is one of London's most paradoxical buildings: well-known from the outside, a mystery within. Since it opened in 1994 it has become a landmark on the capital's skyline, but access to its interior is highly restricted

Waiting in the Hotel Room 2010, pencil, watercolour and charcoal on paper. Spies spend long hours working, waiting for contacts and waiting for calls. 'There's a lot of hanging around,' says Hart Dyke. 'You're in a completely ordinary place, waiting for something quite extraordinary to happen... and often waiting for a long time.'

More at A Year with MI6

Comments

  1. Brits,(shaking head)... super double secret art, carefully vetted to make sure they mean absolutely nothing to anyone outside the inner circle.

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  2. I'm a lot like a spy. I'm in a completely ordinary place, waiting for something quite extraordinary to happen... and often waiting for a long time.

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  3. You should be painted!

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  4. Or tarred and feathered :-)

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  5. I've been meaning of featuring this since you posted it. Seemed exactly right with the news today.

    http://dreamdogsart.typepad.com/art/2011/05/james-hart-dyke-dog-walker-spy-painting.html

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