Dreaming about painting, does that count as work? If so, it was bad. I was forced to work in acrylic, nasty thin canvas, too flobby; painted a girl in a big white hat surrounded by flowers; thin paint, badly done. no structure or sense.
Actually got into the studio yesterday and could have cried if I'd had the energy. Its baking hot there, the orchids are happy but the work lying around is dreadful. Had thought to attack but ended up sleeping; too hot and I'm hurting.
Traded notes with Bernard when he was here - about our expectations as young artists, what we were taught, what we'd believed about our legacies would be. Concluded that our lives were wasted but then there was no other way to live them...
In the meantime Peter G has had a glowing review in the Jackdaw. His trajectory is easily traced but not applicable to us, alas.
Reminded often of old Mr Otosky, who was so kind to me. Russian refugee way back when; still painting in Hampstead when I knew him. He taught me varnishes, managing stock room, studio practice. This incidentally, whenever I dropped in to say Hi. He reflected on a long life in art without bitterness and indeed ended it on a note of triumph when he won one of the competitions with a surprising watercolour and plaster (on large paper) of the trojan horse. Rather confused the issue because after his death his son Geoff Orson thought he should be able to sell the studio full of work - something the artist had been unable to do. I put him in touch with some likely galleries but nothing came of it ( and this was in the day when galleries sold art to the public) Otosky was a colleague of Mark Gertler and that lot - no track record though.
Wonder what happened to all that work. I lost touch with the family.
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