Who knew that one journey up to the Peak District in my friends brown Escort in the mid eighties, armed with my first camera, would yield so many paintings twenty something years later. Netherseal. See also, ‘Stephen in the car’ and ‘Big House on the way to Dovedale’. Overseal. This blurry faced stranger is never going to know how famous he is. Underseal. Perhaps an ad in the Burton on Trent times: Were you riding a Dawes on the A444 around 1986…? Tetraseal.
I suppose you had to be there. Common Seal.
Summer is here. In the studio it’s the bees and wasps and in the house it’s the ants and greenbottles. So summer must be here. Having spent the last two weeks explaining and defending my work, (it’s not too big), it feels good to reclaim the studio. However, glorious weather and the dog we are looking after for two weeks are sapping my motivation to do anything other than lie around helplessly.
If you know where this image comes from you have most likely been there, breaking the number one golden rule of driving through Aldershot: Never leave your vehicle. It was worth it though wasn’t it.
Tomoko Takahashi from July to September at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. That’s all the excuse I need to get down to that part of the world again. I suppose, as I am in the area, I could pop in to the bike shop that hand makes those sexy red steel and titanium road bikes. My genius tactic of getting someone to pay for a painting in the form of said beauties is not working thus far. Ho hum.
This weekend is your last chance to get round the open studios. Come and see where I am up to with the 99; give me your favourite, (or least favourite), and then pick one to buy that isn’t the cows because I’ve sold that one. Three times.
Saturday was rubbish. I spent most of the day pretending to paint and trying not to drink the homebrew that surrounded me. I was Billy.
On Sunday I treated myself to Angry Birds. That was the first thing I did right. The next right thing was to start moving stuff around and take paintings down. This ensured a constant and steady stream of lovely lovely people coming to visit. Some even tried the beer!
Hayling Island in the summer is a bit scary. There must be a man down there who specialises in face tatoos and he knows alot of people. On New Years Day it’s as traditional as the breakfast we stop off for and you’re more likely to bump into someone you would rather avoid from Farnham than the girl with the dragon tatoos on her eyelids.
There’s only one week left to come and see me playing games on my phone so do pop in and save me from my ever growing beer belly.
Open Studio Day Two.
To use the word ‘slow’ would be to deceive the reader into thinking there was movement.
Telephone box is part of the ‘stalking around campsites in the dark’ series. I have since become brave and on a recent trip to Wiltshire, managed to capture a great moment that was something that crossed St Trinian’s and a Carry On. Look out for that one…
