Creating: An occasional discourse and diatribe

sabine7…seventhheaven…

It was just such a lovely civilised Saturday evening…with a close school friend, since the age of seven, his family and others…greeted warmly with champagne, quail eggs, canapes…and a string quartet in the drawing room.

As we left in the early hours from their Surrey home, he showed me an oil painting he and his wife commissioned from me twenty years ago. They are both geologists and I remember wanting to evoke the feeling of the earth, striation and layering. It took eight months to complete.

He showed me a specialist geolists tool within the picture that I had no knowledge of or intention of painting while creating the work. I do however, remember 'arriving in the zone' while painting. I so look forward to similar experiences again in my studio in France.

It's morning, it's snowing and settling now…a killer sore throat and a cold…and it's all beautiful…

Just returned…from an early morning walk on the beach with Smartie. It cleared my head and got me thinking. It's too easy to be negative and I'm not a negative person. Striking a balance in this blog between discourse and diatribe has been an eye opener for me.

This blog, this diary, is helping me to understand where I am in the art world. No one owes me a living and I am very fortunate to be in a position where I will be able to paint with fewer distractions. I've been stuck inside decorating this house to sell and to move to France. I'm an outdoor person and things will change for the better.

We want to simplify our lives and add meaning and this is all a major change for me and my wife Emily…and Smartie…this is really where this blog begins…

Arts Council England south east, news issue no. 16 arrived yesterday…the RFO's (regularly funded organisations) have all won the lottery. Thousands and hundreds of thousands of pounds given away. Over £43 million pounds over three years for the south east.

It's mostly a pleasure to enter these public art galleries and see the work displayed with such care. An experience sometimes negative, sometimes positive, sometimes provocative, sometimes dull and sometimes inspiring. When it's crap, that really is frustrating.

I've re-read my blogs and can see I need to be more positive…as from now this will change and I will explain why I think I've been this way towards the 'art world'…

Exhausted…just finished turfing a clients lawn. This may have been my last garden project. No phone calls. My garden business may have to close. This is not unexpected and totally understandable in this uncertain economic climate. No one wants to spend money on their garden.

It's all positive, as everything is pointing towards painting. At least I know already there is no money to be made in painting.

Mark-making, colour relationship, proportion, where every mark matters, absolute complete honesty in decision making, then arriving in the zone where something else takes over…a beautiful state to be in…pure creation.

This is what is important to me. This is all that matters…