Currently we are preparing to move house, and the fact that I am an artist adds a markedly different edge to the exercise. Of course, all of the usual problems have to be confronted about what we must take with us and what it might be opportune to leave behind. We discovered, in one cupboard, … Read more
We are planning to move to a new home in the near future. Of course, having lived in our present house for twenty-seven years we have accumulated a large amount of stuff, not all off which we really need to take with us. This sorting process is going to involve a good deal of time … Read more
I spent several hours this afternoon clearing up after an exhibition. The event itself was very satisfying, with a positive response from visitors during the discussion session. The theme was “Seeing and Believing”, and it took a broad survey of the different ways in which faith has been involved in my work over the years. … Read more
…. to quote Bob Dylan, although I’m not sure that it is correct to describe me as a “rolling stone”. Greatly to my relief I have found it possible to begin painting again, although I spend a good deal of my time fighting off distractions. The biggest of these is the fact that we have … Read more
A long time has passed since I last posted. All is not lost, however, and I am still in the land of the living. The primary diversion from art has been the fact that we have decided to move house. This has been a huge distraction mentally, and well as demanding a great deal of … Read more
A long time has elapsed since I last posted on this blog. The reasons for this have been complicated and tedious, including some technical problems, but also issues with my health. A gigantic diversion has been our decision to move house. Although we have not yet made the move the psychological and physical distraction entailed … Read more
It is proving very hard at the moment for me to make space for art…. at least, for the creative and productive aspect of it. The things which have occupied me have often been peripheral to anything that might be called “creativity”. I have managed to frame, quite successfully, a recent piece, thus salvaging a … Read more
I’m sure that this is not the first time on which I’ve remarked on the perpetual and recurring problem of artists, namely, the question of what to call a work. Titles can be the bane of one’s life. It isn’t so bad if you are into portraiture, when the name of one’s sitter is enough. … Read more
I was rather startled yesterday, doing my regular language study, to discover that I was being taught the Italian for “Fuck off!” I was surprised for several reasons. Having studied Italian for seventeen years, although I had encountered the word, I have never seen it the vocabulary for a course. I have never felt the … Read more
I’m not really paranoid, but there are occasions on which it does feel that the world is trying to foil my attempts to be an artist. Just as I am getting into my stride again, and producing work, I am besieged by demands on my time which take me away from it. We have committed … Read more