30 03 2017

Set foot in the studio today to replenish the sugar bowl and clean the coffee machine.
Only the thought that the gaps in my thinking can be filled by tiresome long winded written explanations keeps me going - and defeats the object.
Tra la.
Taking tomorrow off to go to the seaside.

28 03 2017 tues

...in the event yesterday was only a 2 page day and I can't honestly say the future is looking straightforward; but for the dreams!!  Interesting that they have started. They occur usually at the end-tussle of a painting. This last was so elaborate that it woke me as I was laughing at it... pregnant twins, 2 gravid fish -  a harpist, the song, the Roman intervention - medieval symbolism, of all things.
Suppose that a new project will change me and the language in which I speak to myself.
 My happy gist; March/April and June are completion birth-dates. Since April is the Raul visit and June the Cybernetic one, this works for me. Nice to know I think I can do it :)

27 03 2017 Monday

Clear day dawning :) Except for a Skype call at 2.00.

Snapped this little meditation on motherhood as I was passing it this morning, because the shadows were so interesting. La. The flash chased those away.

24 03 2017 Friday

Back - and indeed refreshed and restored. Ish.
Strange time dropping picture to Atheneum. Took the 53 to Whitehall and it was terribly slow - the weather, the traffic and the crazy man at The Elephant - started to fear that I would be late. Didn't have the number of the man nor the club. Galloped from the bus stop and was pulled up by armed men as I was charging across the changing of the guard (had the hood of my coat up, didn't hear them shouting)
At the club, bang on time, the secretary took the pic and showed me where it would hang. He wants a ceremony - an unveiling- then to give me lunch. I asked if my siblings could come and he said all the siblings I wanted could come, probably unaware of how many there are :)
So all good but I was distrait. Tres. Had a coffee and was so uneasy I lidded it and went to the train station, got an immediate train out of town. Whence I felt well and happy.

Not claiming that I'm psychic, but... well, I guess I am claiming a degree of psychoticness. Because shortly afterwards the nearby houses of parliament were attacked.
There was a nasty nastiness in the air, is all I'm saying.
Here's the entrance of the Atheneum. The portrait will hang behind those pillars,on the way to the lift, opposite a pic of TS Eliot. Couldn't be better; though there is still a committee sitting to arrange the site so nothing settled really.

Whilst in London saw the Hockney show and was sadly underwhelmed. He's great, of course, but all that emphasis on surface is tiring - I want a pretense at depth. His drawing of Kitaj is inadequate. Woefully. Take a Hockney drawing and compare and contrast with a Turner daub....

Didn't get to the Claude Cahill/Gillian Wearing show, distinguished so far by carrying the worst reviews I've ever read. Instead went to the Rubens at The Banqueting House of Whitehall which was a blast but not on account of Rubens; it has been restored 25 times (and stuck on hardboard in 1926) so its as blurred as my spectacles.                            
 Learnt a lot of new stuff.

Nicest thing I saw? This little beaut;

 Its the bottom of a gun made in 1530 by Muhammad, son of Hamza with an inscription reading (in arabic) that he was commanded to do so by Sultan Sulayman for the vanquishment of the unbeliever. Heaven knows how it ended up in Woolwich Arsenal.

16 03 2017 Thursday

Life constantly disturbed. Making small progress, but at least some.

Now today, find that on the one hand the committee  at the RA regret that... on the other hand, that arts committee at the atheneum want the portrait of Stafford.
So don't have to schlepp RA pix to London, but do have to schlepp one to the club.

Life persists in sending mixed signals.

I'm knackered. Pulled some chest muscle after buggering my back which means my breathing is worse than ever. Trouble getting into the studio. But hey, leaving for London on Saturday so doesn't matter. Back Thurs., hopefully restored, refreshed, re-energised.

09 03 2017 Thursday

Its thursday, general maintenance day... which is as well, don't think I could take another brick wall day like yesterday.
As a by-product have repainted two pix - the entry into Castelle Angello and The Nightingale - started another and cracked on with a begun one.

But its bad, the book. May have to redefine it into an arena I can understand and manage.

07 03 2017 Tuesday

Yesterday was a four-page day, which inspired me to count the work done. 60 pages! The book is no where near completion and most of the 'done' pages will need re-drawing and certainly designing into a proper format - but it feels like an achievement.

05 03 2017

Gave up the unequal struggle and went to hear the explanation from the source - the Falcondale tapes. Now feel able to continue on the 'Staffie' from Chile.
Waiting for my brain to order itself, returned to an unfinished painting and beat it up. Great pleasure!

04 03 2017 Sat

Bob back today and I haven't got as much done as I'd expected in his absence. But it carries on, little by little, day by day; feels slightly penitential as I near the end. Though I must think soon, where is the end? At what point does Big Data kick in? Will get to a more detailed explication of the model, set in its historical context, and take it to Raul at Easter. Then - depending on how I react to his remarks- to the June Valladolid meeting. Rien est facile.

In the meantime, have entered the NOA competition, despite my avowals. 20 quid up the spout. Cheaper than the RA at anyrate.

01 03 2017 Weds

..and so it goes. Not surprising that it's a struggle - it's difficult and I'm writing it and drawing it. Researching and making judgements.
Did a page count yesterday and was pleased. I've forgotten what it was :(
Off to Quillan market to squander the morning.