He is still twiddling his brushes. The work is an opportunity to do nothing whilst ‘doing’ something. Howard Hodgkin, lend us a mark or two? The image of the bird is a handhold on the cliff. Let go and, only hopeful daubing is left. ‘It’ knows. The scarified surface is nice and soft. He brushes his hand over it periodically, a distraction. He used to smoke. He recalls those times when he searched for a lost something or other, in places where he knew it could not be, in full knowledge of the outcome, just to avoid finality. Other distractions may surprise him. ‘It’ has lost its cutting edge, temporarily.
