01/04/20

A day of cleaning.

02/04/20

Enjoyed doing the live stream for Atypical today!

04/04/20

“Inside Man” starting point. — “*Inside Man*” starting point.

“Titian: Behind Closed Doors”

Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ - The ethics of looking.

05/04/20

Not sure if attempting “The Ferryman” on this scale is the right move.

The falling boy: “Full of Grace”.

Blocking.

Some really good progress in the studio.

06/04/20

Commissions

“If your art doesn’t reflect your family and community then what’s the point?”
Dale Harding - Tateshots

07/04/20

Happy anniversary JG!

Applications.

Never rains but it pours! Buckets needed.

08/04/20

“Full of Grace” coming well. Would like to incorporate ultramarine blue - hint to the Virgin Mary in there (via the window). — “*Full of Grace*” coming well. Would like to incorporate ultramarine blue - hint to the Virgin Mary in there (via the window).

Very funny search for a protractor.

09/04/20

Farcical.

Eventually got to painting after helping with a birdbox.

Birdbox with slated roof

"Full of Grace" finished

10/04/20

Should have been “Confessional” exhibition’s natural end.

11/04/20

Such a battle with “Inside Man” at the minute. Struggling with that balance of realistic approach and the drawing mark.

It’s been a while: “I AM NOT A REALIST PAINTER!”

12/04/20

13/04/20

Not overly happy with the finality of “Inside Man” but best to finish up now before I properly overcook it.

14/04/20

All but finished another painting. It’s very strange times indeed.

15/04/20

16/04/20

Six hours and I’m pretty much no further forward than when I started. Going to have to take a completely different route to accomplish this. It would help if I had a goal in mind. Detailed vs Out of Focus. In between? Trying to tackle the green slab all at once isn’t working.

17/04/20

18/04/20

21/04/20

Little talk with VAI’s online café went well with really nice feedback on work in progress and the studio set up.

22/04/20

Meetings.

23/04/20

Some really good painting put down today.

24/04/20

Need to box up and send off!

25/04/20

Reset. Breathe.

26/04/20

Looking. So important. Doesn’t mean you can’t allow for spontaneity or randomness in the process.

“Ferryman” is finished!

27/04/20

A cartwheel with no floor. CT Scans reveal right-sided skull vault fracture and subdural haematoma. Off to Royal Victoria Hospital.

30/04/20

Out of hospital. Time to start recovery process.

02/03/19

Struggling with “Bereft Clown”. I think it’s too contrived. Another image overlay maybe?

"Bereft Clown" - overlay

"Ruins" - detail

"The Lost Woods Study"

Adding another image automatically forces you to simplify the composition in a way so that just the essentials are left.

Loosening up on “Ruins”. Music really makes a difference in the studio for me.

The imagery may be personal but the doors are left open. Viewers bringing their own experiences / ideas to the work is paramount.

Don’t like the word ‘style’. It’s too certain of itself.

03/03/19

Bit better productivity wise.

07/03/19

Sketchbook work tonight.

08/03/19

…has “Bereft Clown” gone the way of the dodo yet again? Is it stifling and holding me back? Even just setting it aside for a week or two could help.

09/03/19

"Ruins" - Detail of Child

"Rose" - Work in Progress

Temporarily removed the shrub in “Ruins”.

10/03/19

15/03/19

Lynda Benglis doesn’t make work for other people or for specific shows but purely out of curiosity.

Attempted some sketchbook work - hit and miss - mostly miss.

16/03/19

Cake tin for the sky disc. I think it’s a good idea to get closer to the colour scheme in my head than what is on the canvas at the moment.

20/03/19

21/03/19

Sketchbook work.

23/03/19

In the studio where I’m happiest. Even if it’s not working well it’s about going through the process.

A good bit of experimentation today but heading in the right direction nonetheless.

24/03/19

"Regal Nest" ideas

"Tarnished" ideas

Corita Kent rules:

Find a place you trust and then try trusting it for a while.
General duties of a student: Pull everything out of your teacher. Pull everything out of your fellow students.
General duties of a teacher: Pull everything out of your students.
Consider everything an experiment.
Be self disciplined. This means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self disciplined is to follow in a better way.
Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail. There’s only make.
The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all of the time who eventually catch on to things.
Don’t try to create and analyse at the same time. They are different processes.
Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It’s lighter than you think.
“We’re breaking all the rules. Even our own rules. And how do we do that? By leaving room for X quantities.” - John Cage.

Helpful hints: Always be around. Come or go to everything. Always go to classes. Read anything you can get your hands on. Look at movies carefully, often. Save everything. It might come in handy later.

There should be new rules next week.

26/03/19

…in my thoughts today.

“If you mix your voice with others’ voices you feel as though you are caught in a hook.
Franz Kafka - “Children on the Road”

27/03/19

So in front of a warm fire and three sleeping dogs, I asked Jan to marry me.

Thankfully she said yes.

30/03/19

A little semblance of normality today: back in the studio.

Less contrast between the sun and sky?

Slowly but surely making progress on the “The Lost Woods Study”.

Detail of “The Lost Woods Study”. — Detail of “*The Lost Woods Study*”.

31/03/19

…more work done to “Rose” today.

Detail of “Rose” - work in progress. — Detail of “*Rose*” - work in progress.