Every year I get an xmas card from this man and his wife and inside it is a photocopy of a hand written letter which he must send to all his friends and relations, explaining all the things he’s done and goes on to detail what his son has done as well over the past year? Me and wife have laughed at this, saying how old fashioned it is and does anyone really read the carefully written almost ‘Edwardian Script’ style handwriting often employed by older generations.
But this year all we got was a personalised xmas card formally printed with their names on and only two lines about their son building a car, driving a rally in Norway and then selling the car! In a strange way I missed having the full blown version, my expectations were for a lot more info, and I was surprised to see I was a little disappointed.
So In the time honoured tradition I have decided to compile a xmas message.
Both me and my wife have prospered well in this difficult year despite the challenges faced by our current government. My high income tax demand reflects another year of hard and consistent work. Our 3 children are older now and all at secondary school, giving us more time to develop our own careers. My wife has just returned to full time employment in her ‘dream job’ which comes with high demands on time and commitment.
I have noticed a similarity with Michael Bouble’s new album cover and my own website home page! http://www.retcreative.com/.
I have spent a lot of this year like the previous year or two in isolation, in ‘the cooler’ making mosaics. I have managed to obtain some work which brings me out of the workshop and into other people’s worlds, which is healthier as I fear my sanity slowly ebbing away, constantly confined to solitary. My recent projects are in folders which can be opened at http://s213.photobucket.com/home/robturner/allalbums, these show my work over the last couple of years or so.
As always I find it difficult to create work outside of commissioned publicly funded projects. But I have recently completed a residency called ‘The Little blue Hut’. This project had no formal outcome or permanent finished piece. Unique for me. My local City Council were to host a regular blog update as the residency unfolded within their council website. Unfortunately their website froze and it was impossible to keep to this agreement. I hosted the blog on my Myspace site instead, and can be read at, http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=260619173. If you are interested then you can view my Myspace site which covers a lot of stuff I have done and is nice and colourful. at,http://www.myspace.com/retcreative
I would like to say that using a blog as a medium to create a body of work in its own right, is an interesting development for me. The drawings generated because of ‘A walk with Cosmo’ would never have been made otherwise. I have a ring binder with drawings in now, the resulting small body of work has made me realise that what is happening is artistic and that I need to now continue, not analyze, as that would stunt the process. Dog walks are just as artistic as pickled sharks or shutting your self in a room with a wolf! This blog has enabled me to find an inner world, and explore my own thoughts and record my surroundings and environment. Not someone else’s surroundings, which is what my portfolio shows.
As for Cosmo he does’nt even know its xmas, but if you visited us he would welcome you with a slipper, a shoe, or even his blanket. Xmas or not he would be pleased to see you.
So Merry Xmas from Cosmo and the ‘Cooler King’.
