I wouldn’t recommend covering your bedroom ceiling in coloured latex, it is, obviously, an extremely messy business and only to be attempted if your bedroom is a bit of a sh*thole to begin with like mine – luckily when I did spill the bucket of latex, it was only on the tarpaulin.
Anyway, I attended the Artsway Open in the New Forest on Saturday. Beautiful drive down with the New Forest ponies doing their thing and my daughter Erin beside me. Last time I had taken Maeve who, when I looked around had taken out a notepad in the exhibition and was sketching the work on show. Unfortunately she had also been collecting grass in her little wicker bag (you never know when you may need it), and had left a trail around the gallery.
The buffet had expanded in variety since last year, much to Erins delight, while the show had contracted somewhat. Largely a hefty amount of brooding photgraphy and film, beautifully presented and tastefully hung, in line with the galleries particular penchant. Some great work there’s no doubt and Alex Pearl considerably lifted the mood with his exquisite little sketch of a space ship on blackboard paint, but on the whole I wonder did it reflect the breadth of variety they no doubt received in entries, and no 3d work that was free standing – all that wasted space. Anyhow, I waited to speak to the curator in the hope of squeezing a little favour out of him for the project we’re planning and after two hours (Erin had used up all the available paper one of the assistants had given her drawing pictures) I managed to nail him down for two seconds. Mission accomplished I picked up Erins ‘Giraffe in African sunset’, and for a split second was hit by the contrast of her cheery little picture beside the raft of bloodstained victims, mutilated images and grotesquely altered portraits. We left swiftly and just managed to spy a couple of little shetlands on the way home as darkness fell.
PS I am in no way against sad and mutilated imagse, my own work has a habit of emerging with it’s fair share of melancholy and foreboding.
