I am beginning to dare to think that things might be on an even keel at last. Not only have I managed to take part, during the last week, in my usual life-drawing class, but I also went to the meeting of the regional Italian Circle, and last night (believe it or not) we went to a concert.* To cap it all, I have managed to begin a painting project which is proceeding in an encouraging way.
The project is unlike anything I have tried before. I have taken up the cudgels again to try and work with egg tempera. It seems to be going better than my last effort, which I abandoned in despair and disappointment. I came back from the trip to Anglesey with a collection of pebbles representing the extraordinary geology of the hill within sight of our accommodation …. Mynydd Parys. It is astonishing to see that such a diversity of material could all originate in one very small area. Fascinated in particular by the extraordinary colours and textures within the stone, I am attempting to do a composition based upon these pebbles. There will be six in all, and I am well into the third of them.
It is an extraordinary technical challenge for me, and not only because of the medium I have chosen. The very fine detail in each piece requires me to work for a good part of the time with a gauge 0 brush. I can’t say how refreshing it is to be back at work again, anxious at every moment to get into the studio instead of feeling guilt every time I went into it, but having nothing to do there.
- It would probably be more accurate to call it a “gig”. The band was Lindisfarne. You could be forgiven for not knowing about them. They hail from the Newcastle area, and came to fame in the ‘sixties, along with Steeleye Spann, as part of the “folk-rock” movement. As time has gone by the “rock” has expended at the expense of the “folk”. It was great fun to be part of an audience of pensioners all celebrating the music of a band of septuagenarians.