Bottoms up

I would just like to share with you, on this exceptionally warm and sunny February day, some ships bottoms. What inspiration for abstract paintings ! Anti fowling paint is such a wonderful colour.

Walking into the light

It is no small thing to follow your path. To have the courage to be your true self, rather than the person others would like you to be.

My Pilgrimage Diaries allude to the truth beyond speech. Communication that is felt but not spoken, intuition is the silence between the words, the unspeakable.

Every atom in our bodies came from a dying star, a Super Nova explosion. Probably the atoms in our left hand came from a different star than the ones in our right hand. It’s a phenomenal thought. Nothing happens in isolation, even the seemingly innocent. As we walk, insects, birds and animals hurry, scurry through the grass, a ripple effect as the unspoken message is passed on, not through words but by intuition, intelligent talk.

A chance meeting or event may change the path we walk. We may take a fork in the road, not previously considered, because of a seemingly random occurrence. With hindsight we look back over our life and recognise that every step we intuitively took was the perfect stepping stone to this moment. There is no need to see the bigger picture, we just need to have the courage to take the next step.

Notice the perfection of the moment, stop and sense how everything about you is perfect, a snapshot, a capturing of an instant in time. This is what I have captured in my diaries, a moment.

Art is not about the form it takes, it’s about where that form takes you. What the piece evokes in the viewer, good or bad. It’s not about me, it’s about you.


First Exhibition starts on 3rd April @ Jardine's in Wivenhoe

Work in progress-ish

This weather is hampering progress. I have one small radiator in the studio, on day and night. In these icy conditions it has little effect. Progress is slow as I can only manage to do about half an hour's work before my fingers go completely numb ! I need a wood burner.
I have taken apart an old lattice work Indian mirror. Wanting to create the impression of a grill or doorway, through which one might view a scene. The mirror was very damaged when I picked it up for little money at a local sale room. I haven't trashed a priceless antique ! Some metallic and white spray paint will cover the brown wood and tie it in with the picture. I have some larger segments of the mirror that I will be able to hinge on another work and use them like a door. The viewer will be able to open the door to see the image behind.

Roll on Spring.

Open your eyes

I'm in danger of tweeing everything up. The pilgrimage exhibitions are an opportunity to escape the drudgery of doing the freekin' fish, of  making a really special effort not to do the expected. At the same time I am very aware that not only would I like to sell some work, but the gallery owners need to make a living too. I'm always having to think 'would I hang this on my wall?' I suppose I should look at it from a different angle.....If I am really happy with a piece then I'm sure others will be !

Live your adventure

I'm working on 4 0r 5 different pieces at the same time. Different sizes but basically the same theme. None finished. If I tweek one, I tweek the all !

The crow above was on an old discarded canvas lurking behind a collection of abandoned boards. I found it  again today, reapplied some paint using the same colours as the new pieces I am working on, and now I'm really happy with it !

The pilgrimage works are a little more abstract than normal and I really like working like this. I prepared a statement the other day, putting into words what the word pilgrimage means to me and to formulate my ideas about these new works,. It has given me both direction and inspiration. Concentrated my mind on exactly what I wanted to produce. So I will share it with you !

A Pilgrimage is a journey of risk and renewal. For a journey without challenge has no meaning. One without purpose has no soul, by definition it is life changing. A pilgrimage is to lose yourself or to find yourself.

My pilgrimage to the sea is both renewing and balancing. I am constantly drawn to the scent of the sea; the pungent smell of seaweed, the scrunch of shells and pebbles beneath my feet, the clanking of halliards in the wind, or a rock balancing  meditation.

Pilgrimage diaries

The works serve as a collection of textually chronicled memories. Where I record my experiences in an illegible, secret diary of layered calligraphic and palimpsestic markings. These personal journals are a process of meditation, memories flowing onto backdrops of maps or collaged pages torn from books. The voyeur struggles to make sense of my thought process, hoping to catch a glimpse of the special places and people I encounter.