In my post on 2 June I touched on the question of the problem of deciding what a picture means. Last night I had an interesting conversation that added a new twist to that problem. I was eating in a restaurant with a group from the wider family (actually, to celebrate my grandson Zack’s christening). … Read more
As I was checking the statistics of the usage of my website today I was struck by how many things have changed in the way in which artists work, even in the short period in which I’ve been practising. Did anyone have their own website when I began? I have just acquired an iPad, and … Read more
The time came today to commit myself to the revisions needed on my windows project. The problem was, however, how to design the half-dozen revisions needed, and to prepare copy of these to pass to the glass technician, without having to redraw completely the entire design. I hit upon an interesting trick. I laid over … Read more
I’ve made an encouraging start with my new project. Let me explain. I have become fascinated by the experience of Italy during the First World War, and this group of three images is the first among what I expect will be a series, reflecting on different aspects of my acquaintance with the area of the … Read more
Yesterday I thought that I had discovered the measure of my true commitment to art, in that I sacrificed a day’s walking in the countryside with friends in order to paint. Just how much more than that is it possible to be committed? Today the relative strength of that commitment was revealed. I went into … Read more
I determined that nothing would stand in the way of my making progress with painting today, so I actually pulled out of an event in which I had planned to take part. Looking back over the day, I probably spent six hours in front of the easel. (It certainly feels like it!) The result, however, … Read more
Well, I’ve never tried this before, but there is always a first time. The first bit of my new Italian project in fact consists of three canvases of identical format. As I began to think about just how I would tackle this, it struck me that because they are in effect three components of one … Read more
In one sense it’s not all that “new”, in that I’ve been churning it in my head for nearly a year. I’ve poked at it; looked at it through my fingers; peeped at it when I thought it wasn’t looking; tried to glimpse it sideways on, remarking loudly that I’m doing something else entirely. I … Read more
There has been a correspondence recently in the pastel artists’ section of LinkedIn, about how and when people discovered their affinity with art. This has connected for me with other discussions about the attractions of pastels as a medium. Comment on the tactile quality of the medium, as one of its attractions, is common. In … Read more
A chap who tried pastels, named Rust, Was really put off by the dust. It was fine on his fingers, Where dust often lingers; When it got on his nose then he cussed.