Having a clear-out
While painting you often produce a little patch, or a big one, that is very good. But as you continue, many of these special places have to go, they no longer fit with what the work has become. A few you may keep because you still believe in them, but their days may be numbered. I’m often […]
Meaning?
Recently I was lucky enough to meet up with two old friends from art college. We’d lost touch for decades so it was quite a shake-up, albeit a lovely one. My website was found and paintings looked at. Pam said ‘Do they have a meaning?’ I didn’t have a reply then, but of course they don’t have a […]
Shifts of Emphasis
My paintings changed this year and the repercussions of that forced me to look at this strange phenomenon – change. My own experience of it was sudden, as if I’d been picked up and dropped into it. That’s not really true, though, as there had been signs last year but at the time I didn’t […]
A Blue Fairy Tale
Years ago there was an Yves Klein (1928-62) exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London. He was an extrovert artist who created ‘International Klein Blue’ which is, to be frank, very like ultramarine blue. As I walked into the show, plain Klein Blue canvases stood out, beautiful and bright against bare white walls. As I […]
Our Ultimate Spur
Creative people are always worth listening to, do you agree? In an interview, sculptor Anthony Gormley said ‘This is what I was born to do’ and, re his sculptures of people installed on the beach and in the sea at Crosby on Merseyside: ‘That’s the test, I think. If you can’t think of a place […]
The Tennis of Painting
Last summer I heard John McEnroe, the great tennis hero, being interviewed on TV; he was asked about being an art collector and he said that he loves paintings with movement – which was endearingly unsurprising! I love movement, it contributes to the dynamic of a painting, its brio, if that’s the term, and the […]
Stunned by a bath
There’s a good article in the autumn issue of the RA magazine (which is mainly about the Abstract Expressionism exhibition.now showing there) which is all about how to be when you go to look at art. The writer suggests that knowing Mindfulness. could help! Her description of the first time she saw a Robert Motherwell […]
Having a Project
When I even say the word ‘project’ to myself I immediately have a sensation of gathering in. It’s as strong as that, collecting all of myself together from where I’ve become scattered. Why? Well I see it as a signal to all my resources that are going to be called upon to contribute. Even though […]
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