22 oct

Think that the tiger-shaman picture is finished though not without problems - I will want to varnish it in a year or so to unite the very patchy surface and some delicate scratching may be lost. Its the delicate scratching that makes it work. Naturally. Perhaps I can varnish some of it. Or more likely, in a year or so, I will have forgotten everything anyway.

Returned to a painting that has been drying, knowing that I knew exactly what to do with it. So obvious it was that I didn't make any notes. Of course it just looked back at me this morning... suspect I reconnected with it though, its allright. Its taken from a drawing of a young man who modeled for the group here, a young man who clearly thought he was wasting his time with us. I enjoyed his disdain - contempt, even - and did some strong images as a result. Decided he looked like Anubis. Began a painting, since abandoned - developed a double image of it on another canvas. Turned into a two headed creature thing coming out of the sea having caught the sunset-reflection. Very difficult, following whim and accident, not knowing whats happening. Way to go yet, as the surface gets more and more matted and unstable. Sigh.

The Prague/satyr painting, on the other hand, is finished. Changed the face, did some overpainting on the horsebody - ooh these new reds!- added horns to rather labour the point of the mythic morphing to civilization, and had enough. It works, it'll do, who cares anyway. Yup! Its that sort of day. I sat down to look at it and FELL ASLEEP in my chair.

Have a new large canvas ready to go, stretched and primed to take some of the studies I made in Nice of the Matisse carousel. Doubting already; seems trite and besides Ive kind-of explored a bit the carousels in the tiger-shaman pic. Damaged my left arm in the stretching - weeks ago, still bad - maybe its that that's holding me back. Or I'm just tired. Managing age is one of the many challenges of being an artist. Sleep on it, perhaps.