In Amsterdam, by luck, I met Lino Hellings. She advised me to keep my work diary on-line, exposing my work methods rather than protecting them, risking the humiliation involved in failure. So:celebrate error. In my heart I knew this to be a good idea. My brain, horrified, fortunately tells me it will be too boring for anyone to read.
Wednesday 30 March 2022
31 01 2022
30 03 2022
Alarmed - very alarmed - to find I've forgotten how to paint. A couple of weeks off and I don't know how to approach and continue.
Tuesday 29 March 2022
29 03 2022
Back in harness. Saw the Louise Bourgeois expo at the Hayward and the Vincent portraits at the Courtauld. Still sifting through ideas incurred. Know where to go with the Messages idea, will kick in tomorrow (sorting out stuff today) Bought some nice paints in London and got them through customs in my luggage- and some charcoal :)
Monday 14 March 2022
14 03 2022
Varnished pix drying...
189 corks wrapped :) =a days work. Hmm this project (Lincoln installation) may be a tad daft. But its good therapy.
Saturday 12 March 2022
13 03 2022
Robert Indiana on Museum TV yesterday: artists lives are more interesting than their art.
Very worrying. Can we separate V van G's work from his wretched story? Impossible to know. And Vassaris Lives?
Been good, varnished and ready for Limoux when I get back from London. Photographed all; think (as I have so many old paintings in storage) its time to put up a 'sale' page on the site.
Friday 11 March 2022
11 01 2022
Finally done some work, sort-of. Gracie and Robin schlepped the paintings for the Limoux show into the garage and I've washed and varnished about half of them. My shoulder hurts. Ha!
Will finish tomorrow morning - they can dry properly when I'm away and be ready in good time.
Have discovered an art TV channel - channel 112 in France, called Museum TV. Mesmerising though I'm a little sated now - too many studios with too many artists, doing what we do. Good company for a while though. Saw a Stonehenge in America built of old cars, a painting chimpanzee, a painting elephant ( quelle tristesse) a Jesus temple built of scrap metal; a review of V van G.; some quite interesting paintings from Poland; some young French artists doing what I do or similar, mythical stuff and hybrid humans. They are so quietly assured, so confident.
Thursday 10 March 2022
10 03 2022
Selecting Limoux show turned out to be simple - 6 of one size without genitals showing and 6 of another, ditto.
Gracie and Robin are coming to move them down the stairs to the body of the garage where I can at least clean - if not varnish- them before I head for London.
Another friend has died and I'II be there for his funeral. Another whole long chain of connections, severed.
Tuesday 8 March 2022
08 03 2022
Think this must be a holiday. Suppressing the work ethic and forcing myself to loll. Reading books, hanging around. Remembering why painting is so important to me - hate feeling this undirected, undriven, sans raison d'etre.
But, hey ho, at the end of this week I'm away for 10 days and really can't finish or start anything, probably.
Though did stop off today at the little tourist information place in Quillan and offer myself as an exhibitor. Really enjoyed showing there in the past. They're fully booked for ever but I'm on a list.
When I get back have to hang the Limoux show. Haven't been to the storage space to start any sort of selection - really, have to do that this week.