John We are planning to move house in the near future and naturally this implies a good deal of attention to sorting and disposing of old things we no longer need. I have been aware that I still have a stack of academic papers which I have kept since my retirement in 2001, and decided yesterday … Read more
This afternoon I finished the picture I mentioned recently, of magnolias from our garden. It is not the best work I have done, but it is certainly a workmanlike piece which will serve its purpose. As I had nothing else immediately in mind to do I decided that it might be an opportune moment to … Read more
We have decided, after twenty-seven years in our current home, that it would be appropriate to find somewhere more convenient as we grow older. The process of putting our house on the market, and looking at potential new homes, is turning out to be interesting …. and challenging. Already I have learned something interesting about … Read more
I guess it’s nice to have a choice, but do I need to have so many? At the moment my biggest problem is probably the selection of priorities. Having shaken off the dreadful cough I had lest week I find myself trying to defend art against the clamour of demands from other activities. We have … Read more
The other night I felt that I had recovered sufficiently from my horrible cold to make it to the weekly figure-drawing class in Ilkley. When the tutor enquired, on my arrival, how I was I’m afraid that I gave him both barrels! I don’t think that I was fishing for sympathy, but it is possible … Read more
There is a significant difference, as I discovered last week, between the meaning of these two phrases. I think that it is no exaggeration to say that I have been down with the worst cough I have ever experienced. The constant hacking at my lungs left me feeling weak and without the ability to engage … Read more
I was thinking today, as I worked in the studio, about my old art master in my former grammar school. He was an unlikely candidate for the role. A former soldier, he had also been an army boxing champion. His appearance reflected both of those positions. Neither his trimmed moustache nor his terse Scottish delivery … Read more
I am happy to say that I am emerging gradually from the morass of distraction which afflicted me for a time. This is odd, because we are just embarking on the process of selling our house, and one might have expected that the distractions would have multiplied. Anyway, let’s just be grateful for the way … Read more
My father died in 1999, and we travelled down to Norfolk in order to sort out his estate. While we were there a neighbour called round to the house. I knew that Harry was an artist, but I had not realised that he had painted a portrait of Dad. This was news to me. The … Read more
Well, I have done informal portrait sketches before, but never anything serious. In fact, I have in my archive a little self-portrait sketch I did as a student. My most sustained acquaintance with this discipline was a couple of years ago when I decided that I needed an incentive to get me drawing again. I … Read more