Friday 28 April 2017

29 04 2017 Sat

EVERYONE gone - next not due till Weds (I think) Oh Airbnb man here but no problem except the day he goes, tomorrow, dear Gracie gets back and I must restore her house to order.
Got to Carca yesterday and spend an unreasonable amount of money on more mosaic tiles. Now  must wait for the weather to return to glory before approaching the wall; its freezing here. Which is quite a Good Thing since Raul is still awaiting 2 not-yet-done drawings and the lawyer needs stuff for the insurance debacle. They forged my signature, cheeky bastards! Quite reassuring, I was right that there was a double-entry-type scam going on.
Collected pic from the Toques et Clochers yesterday.
Haven't looked at it or the Monday drawings.
Today have to go to an Artistes a Suivre meeting.
So, yet again, no work done. Some work diary eh.

Monday 24 April 2017

24 04 2017

Guests still in residence. Having to internalise work, trying not to growl.
Mosaic ground to a halt due to lack of tiles - run out already. Bieke came and talked to me about it, most helpfully. On her advice have junked the studies which being on paper do not reflect the weight of the materials Im using. She also - I mean, also like me - is uneasy about the 'frame' and the colour of it but I'm still thinking... the problem I hadn't really considered is that this is garden ornamentation though naturally it has the other agenda, that of being Therese's memorial and (it turns out as I work) references my mother and other mothers in my life, Susan especially. Still has to look good.
Lala. On hold till weds when I can get to Carcassonne to buy more tesserae. Bob back then. Current guests go Friday, just in time for the next lot who are only overnighters. Yuri leaves tomorrow, alas. Airbnbers go today, another arrives tomorrow which means this afternoon is beds.  Off to draw this morning.

Saturday 22 April 2017

22 04 2017

Mosaic begun and presenting interesting problems, mostly physical. Worked on it all day yesterday (a pleasure) and woke with a back seized and unhappy. Hot shower later, think it'll do... have to really, there are at least two days worth of work there.
Maybe run out of tiles before then.
Raul wants more drawings, have sent some, need to do more. Beautiful weather scheduled to end in two days so can wait till then. They'll be on line.
Au boulot...

Monday 17 April 2017

17 04 2017 Monday

Been in Valencia ... so, the book is acceptable, needs some changes, all on course though. I'm going to get back to it after the Valladolid trip as some of the issues that have emerged about the interpretation of the VSM need thinking about. Most encouraged though. Raul very positive. Thinks its an important contribution. Also (phew) the Rome stuff went down well and it seems he will publish them so maybe I can get more residencies, that'd be good.

Now Richard and Ava have arrived and we have a hectic social life for a while so I have a lax period. Will start on the mosaic if the weather holds.

Friday 7 April 2017

08 04 2017 Saturday

Definitely on holiday.
Cleaning continues, slowly.

Struck this morning at the common theme of the last two books I read, freed from the need to read VSM related material. First was All Passion Spent, Vita Sackville-West, re-read because of the title; next was The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, which was lying around. They have a common theme - that of the fairy godfather.
In both books an elderly lady decides to cast of her masks and life on her own terms in solitude, is discovered by an unbelievably rich elderly gent with a younger side-kick, enveloped by costly gifts, offered deep reverence - and dies.
V S-W is copyrighted 1931 and  Barbery 2006. English and French, variously.
Is this a common theme in fiction that I've not noticed before?
If so (and I need to think about this) is the magician plus sprite a decent theme for the next pix?

Though have a handful on the go that need addressing first - and need to tidy the Roman project - then do the Therese tribute mosaic.

Thursday 6 April 2017

07 04 2017 Friday

Weird - and marvellously liberating - to be project-free :) Plan is to clean up properly today, dust down half finished paintings, give 'em a go...

06 04 2017 Thursday

Finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- looks terribly slight, incomprehensible, badly drawn - but its done. The bones anyway. Fit state for Valencia in 6 days. Blimey, ahead of a deadline :)
Now to clean up the debris.

Saturday 1 April 2017

02 04 2017

-Like dragging myself through mud.
Figure I can finish in 8 or 10 more pages and maybe will just do that,  accepting that there'll have to be a lot or reworking. Want to take a complete story to Valencia in a fortnight for Rauls assessment.