here's tom with the weather; vermillion is on..

i was up for work this morning at around 6am,
the sky was beautiful, really fantastic, to the
right of my journey to work, the most vivid reds
of cadmium and a contrasting azure background,
to the left was a perfect horizontal band of
cobalt blue, further left a heavy fat square of
dark rain waiting to collapse; it was like i was
up to early and was seeing the preliminary sketches
of an as yet, undecided skyline.

...answers on a postcard...

it's as easy as taking a good quality digital
photograph...

i'm obviously an incompetent fool then when
it comes to taking a 'good quality' digital
image..

i have tried; indoor light, outdoor natural
light.. slowing down the 'iso speed' adjusting
the 'white balance' and other such photography
type nonsense, all of which equals...

absolute rubbish..

the camera i am using is obviously colour blind
& needs to visit the optician because it clearly
cannot focus on anything... (yes i have tried
with and without macro)

i have tried a multitude of different combinations
of 'camera settings' and quite frankly, we are not
developing a loving relationship...
(yes, "developing" even i groaned out load as i
wrote that..)

i thought this was going to be a lot easier...

in the really real world....

i am having some 'postcards' printed by
a professional printing firm, and possibly
some poster sized prints (possibly)

the postcards are for promotional purposes,
to hand out, leave & secrete in the pockets
of potential buyers, collectors & gallery
owners.. you get the picture..

firstly, i don't know which painting to use
to 'advertise' myself with..

secondly, & my main issue, do i print the
web address of this place on the back..??

do i want people to know the reality of a
struggling 'artist' - can't give his paintings
away - works in a call centre to pay the
bills..

that's not very professional is it...

but it is the reality...

how much reality is wise..?

room to dream

so, i've taken some time off from painting..
..to paint.. decorate paint that is..
the dining room is having a new lick and some
phantasmagorical wallpaper...
photographic evidence of that to follow..


here are some photo's of my work from the last
exhibition..

'placement' (mixed media on canvas, acrylics/gold & copper/wire/acids/string)



'weather wall' (boxes 1, 2, 3) (mixed media on canvas with wooden painted frames)



'on land' (mixed media on canvas, acrylics/gold & copper/wire/acids/string/seeds/rusted nails)

that was it...??

so it's october and it is now becoming cold
very cold.

my studio, a converted garage, is cold.

very cold..

no, it is not good.

the things that cascade through my mind
that i choose to think about but not tell
anybody.. these 'things' are probably what
filter in to future paintings..
like the unbalanced moral confusion that
is/was curtis's life;
also; the everyday standards which people
choose to set (or rather not) themselves.
credibility/artistic merits.

there is a lot of 'bad' art, people seem to
struggle in this definition; and subsequently
level by celebration of 'poor/inadequate'
output.

these people are ultimately as bad as what
poor & inferior qualities they set by association
of their tastes.

nothing good or artistically credible can come from
celebrating what we all recognise as just simple
utter shite, but still people i know do.. why?

"IDENTITY" (whats in a name?)

work in progress;

as my work is representational of 'man-made' effects
on the natural environment & also the 'back to earth'
aspect, i will address this as an individual statement.

. . . another enriching layer of disquiet . . . (and a little patch of blue)

(click on pic)

some days all you can do is feel utter
frustration at how a painting refuses to
'be' what you require it to be.
of course, it would help if i understood
what it is, in literal terms, i actually
want..
a layered distortion reflecting the environment
in which the very foundations of our man-made
existence has corroded and gone back to earth...
..
..not a still life then..??
..
all morning i have spent glaring in a rothko type
frenzy of frustration at the canvas propped on my
easel..
and i do this because..??

well.. there can be hours, days, weeks, months of
angst ridden splattering paint over paint over paint
bad, worse, what the hell am i doing...
and then, without thinking or taking much consideration,
mix some cobalt blue lazily with a prussian blue, trowel
it over a still wet canvas of cadmium red and..
..that's fucking beautiful..
the "best mistake" happens..
can it be sustained to complete the painting as a whole?
probably not, but for now, i kinda like that little patch
of blue...

and that is reason enough.. ?

preservation of the soul

it's 05:41am, night shift at the paperclip office,
i have now been awake for more hours than i am
physically or mentally able to count.

only another few hours and i can go home, get some
sleep (possibly/hopefully) and then it's off to the
studio tonight for the preview of the open exhibition
where i will try to appear semi-conscious..


coffee time..

post.

i went into the studio the other day to deliver
a few 'weather boxes' for the upcoming open studio
exhibition. it's always good to catch up with jane
who took time to have a coffee with me and talk
about her work, i love her originality, approach &
although our work seems to be worlds apart we seem
to approach from the same basis; taking things/items
that people either ignore/discard and give them a new
value.
it always seems to help me understand my own approach
more to talk & explain to someone else & listen to how
they deconstuct their own work into words/process.