…an email just popped up from Danny Smith director of Jubilee Action and Jubilee Campaign…it simply reminds me, that so much that we do and concern ourselves with in the Arts is nothing really when compared to the suffering in some parts of this world.
St. George's Day…a special day today…Shakespeare's birthday…he also died on the same date…I married into an acting family…both my parents-in-law are Royal Shakespeare Company actors (Cherry Morris Murray sadly died of cancer three years ago, taken ill during a performance at The National…worth googling, because she was brilliant) and Emily was a professional actress too…being a quiet painter and occasionally surrounded by actors has encouraged me and given me more confidence to create and follow my heart. My old school too is celebrating today…St. Georges College, Weybridge…but more importantly…it's my mothers' birthday today!…mmmnn…some tiffin and a nice cup of tea…
Saturday morning. Just sitting quietly in the roof space, listening to rain fall on the window panes.
I love the rain, the simple sound of water, where my mind can gently meander and visualise the world outside and around me. Images never to be painted directly, but certain to find a place somewhere within the simplified, stripped-down watercolours for my new series in my French studio.
Complexity and simplicity, areas of busyness and areas of calm. A continuing and important philosophy/psychology for my work, where the minds-eye naturally wants to move away from a busy image after a while to rest. Rather than move outside of the image entirely, there is space within the image, to find that subconcious calm we all ultimately seek. This all helps to balance and harmonise the work, ultimately giving and not taking anything from the mind of and the enjoyment of the viewer.
…an OFF day today…another cold, another sore throat and a headache. OFF days are important to help balance the mind and body. It's often a natural physical response to having done too much.
Van Gogh, Emil Nolde, Vasily Kandinsky, all had OFF days, so I'm in good company. Then again, so did Adolph Hitler, Himmler, Goering and Goebbels, so it's best not to compare…?!
Seeking sanctuary…a safe place, a quiet place, a contemplative place, a comfortable place, a place to reflect for a few moments or as long as it takes. Similar size to a small garden shed and placed every mile or every five or ten miles by the side of the road in all countries, depending on the need of individuals. Simply walk in day or night, sunshine or rain, close the door, stand, sit or lie down.
It's raining, you enter and select from a drop down menu on one of the surrounding screens the mood you are in at present. Enter any other thoughts, emotions, concerns.
Relax, close or open your eyes and experience a contrived world of images, sounds and smells to lift you out of yourself and position you in a place where you feel more positive, more self-assured, more hopeful, more peaceful.
When you feel ready to, press the screen in front where it reads,
'Now return to your important life and try to remember you and everyone is an artist and everything is art'.
The door opens and outside it's still pissing down with rain…
'Graham's response to landscape is contemplative. Creation becomes a challenge as every mark is considered as the aesthetic process unravels towards sublime resolution. Graham's preoccupations are undoubtedly formal, but his technique relies on more than simply a conscious arrangement of shape and colour. Graham aims to intuitively distil the essence of his visual experience in a much more unlimited way. Landscape provides the ideal motif; unrestricted by figures or buildings, an exploration is permitted which ultimately pervades pure creation.' Sally-Ann Schilling. MA History of Art, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Art Historian and former Lecturer Tate Modern, London
