…. as Fagin sings, in the musical version of Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Well, that’s me at the moment. I have no more exhibitions planned, and no more artistic projects in mind. When the current displays of my work have been taken down there will be an intensive session of tidying-up, after which I believe that the best thing for me to do is to simply take stock of where I am, and what I might do.
I had an instructive experience on our recent cruise holiday. There was no way in which I was going to intrude into the privacy of sun-bathers on the deck. I really didn’t fancy myself as a successor to Henry Moore, in the London Underground during the blitz. The idea of portraiture has, from time to time, seemed interesting as a prospect, but that was not the right time to move in that direction. Instead, I found myself sketching various pieces of marine equipment …. blocks, pulleys, and other stuff I can’t even name. The exercise demanded extreme attention to precision in relation to angles and curves. Careful control of the small muscles of the hand took over from the free movement from the elbow we are encouraged to adopt in the regular life-drawing class I attend. There is probably no artistic mileage in technical drawing, but it did bring home to me that there are other possible ways of working out there, and a period of reflection and experimentation might well be valuable. Let’s wait and see how things develop.