AUGUST 2005
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Henrietta's working on tiny watercolours in the garden whilst I'm potterng in the studio.
Lunchtime Richard comes into the studio to say we've just had an e mail from the foreign office saying that King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has just died. the poor man had suffered a stroke some years ago which had meant that Prince Abdullah was de facto head of the country. Sop it seems appropriate that he is now King. It's hard to believe that this elegant man whom I had photographed in the graceful sword dance at the finale of the historic opera we saw in Janaderia in February is 84 years old.
Later in the day receive e mail from Alistair saying that MJ likes the carpet seller painting and broaching the idea of a large mural coveing the 50 years of the company, which would seem to be an exciting prospect until we discover that only one place in my studios combine the height and the width required. Even though I'd been planning to have an extension to one of them, it wouldn't be completed in time for this.
R and I have been mulling over differnet ideas for giving the space where I might paint the mural enough depth for me to stand back and view the whole from a distance. I eventually come up with a rather drastic idea of knoocking a hole in the wall and putting a small glass room behind it.
Henrietta and I go for an afternoons 'girlie' shopping.
Desperate call from Hugh at Discipline Global to say they've chosen one of the four images to replace the Comic Strip on the new production, a newspaper work The First of the First that I'm sure we have a transparancy of. Alas when we search the files, there's only a photograph but it's pretty good so hope it will suffice - enclose transparency of another of the four just in case it isn't!
We drive up to London where we meet up with Nathan and Kev for supper before going to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, to see The Producers. Wonderfully politically incorrect, witty and totally bad taste. The children are treating us. Nathan had already seen it a couple of months ago. We then drive Henreitta and Kev to Blackheath before turning in at a hotel in Greenwich.
On our walk around the area we are greeted by the site of the magnificent Cutty Sark cutting a beautiful sillouette against the blue sky. We visit the market and find several little treasures befor going to see Henrietta and later Nathan. We had thought of doing an exhibition but time was running out. arrive home at 8pm to find amongst others, a message from Alistair in Saudi Arabia. They'd like me to make a painting of the new King, Abdullah, flanked by the two Crown Princes.
R starts to prepare new canvas, stretching and priming in readiness for the new King Abdullah painting.
It's now the big bash to finish and refine the first two Saudi paintings for shipping at the end of next week with the last two Japanese works
- ditto -
R sets out with my Mum at about 9.30 am to deliver her to London to stay with Henrietta and Kev for a few days. meanwhile I'm working on the CARPET SELLER, patterning more rugs and generally refining.
Phone call from Rob Whittle in Birmingham saying he hasn't yet received the money for the painting he recently sold but it should arrive soon. he says that luckily his house wasn't damaged by the typhoon that hit Birmingham a week or two ago ripping off roofs and chimney stacks from houses, sucking cars up into the air before dashing them to the ground in mangled masses. the whole thing happened very quickly; havoc and devastation wreaked in seconds leaving sixty people in hospital. It all happened only a few hundred yards away from where he lives! he says it's very sad as a lot o f the homes belong to poorer families who did not have house insurance.
The more I do to the paintings the more I to find to do. It's a homing in on areas that as part of the sum total I hadn't noticed.
R takes the two Saudi Arabian paintings to The Darkroom to have their transparencies made during the morning, whilst I do a little more refining to the LADY SHIZUKA and the WHITE HERON FESTIVAL paintings which he forces me to relinquish just before 3pm, the latest time he could take them to have photographed today. Even after their return I still more that I need to paint on them so it's 4.30 am again before we turn in.
The shippers arrive about half past midday. They pack the four paintings with great care, wrapping them first in a triple layered bubble wrap with a fine inner mesh and a strong polythene on the outside. a cardboard box was then constructed for each before they were put into separate wooden crates for their flight to Jeddah this evening.
I start the new canvas that R has prepared for me for the painting of King Abdullah whilst he drives up to London to collect my Mum from Henrietta and Kev's.
Am gradually working out the composition for the King Abdullah painting, filling in the many ghouttras (headcloths) that surround his central position. I've mixed up large amounts of new colours to aid the spontaneity.
Dinner with Jane and David in Naunton which is as usual fascinating, especially the conversations about their home in a remote part of Tasmania. They both respond to Richard's enquiries about their investments in stocks and shares by giving us demonstrations on their two laptops one at either end of the table. It's interesting to see the graphs and sense their excitement when discussing shares that have either fallen disastrously or risen dramatically. We are amazed when we suddenly see that it's 2.30 am when we leave.
Paint during morning and early afternoon before leaving for London and supper with Henrietta and Kev.
Visit the Maritime museum in Greenwich to see the Nelson and Napoleon exhibition. Then their fine permanent collection; some beautiful Eric Ravilious of submariners and an amazing set of Whistler etchings, exquisite in detail and scale of the Thames from Chelsea down to the Docks. A marvellous little Turner of a rowing boat loading stores onto a larger ship and many other treasures. later we visit Nathan before going out to supper and discussing projects with him.
Whilst I'm waiting for a call from MJ in the evening (that had been arranged by Alistair at a mutually agreed time), the phone rings and it's Lee in New York. Shortly after, MJ does phone but we are not able to get far in the discussion as he doesn't have the reference material to hand so we arrange that he will call again tomorrow, however he does emphasise that this painting of King Abdullah within the crowd is the commission he would like me to concentrate all my energies on. Alistair had previously emphasised the importance of Saudi Arabian history to the country and therefore the importance of this painting.
Invitation from Caroline and Simon Knowles to a drinks party in September.
Call from Andy Curry (of the Pryory Gallery) who is in France, to see if I have a small work or two I could let her have to exhibit at the Affordable Art Fair in October.
Early afternoon a call from MJ who does now have an image to discuss which Prince is which. I also tell him about the painting I'm doing of King Abdullah at the opera where he danced with the sword - he requests that I give both these paintings priority over the other works he has commissioned me to create.
Lee rings from New York.
During the evening I decide to start a new canvas for the King Abdullah and the People painting - the same dimensions but turned to vertical (portrait rather than landscape) as I felt he was somewhat lost in the mass on the horizontal canvas. This also relates to the other canvas of him at Janaderiah where he is standing full length, almost filling the 60 inch high canvas
Entire day spent on the new King Abdullah and the People canvas.
E mail from Eiji at the Morohashi Museum discussing the exhibition next year which is scheduled to run from early April until July. Also photograph of he and Meg's beautiful new baby daughter Amane; she's exquisite like her sister Kano who enchanted us during our dinner with them at the Imperial Hotel last November.
Andy Curry rings again to confirm the two paintings that she will be showing at the art fair in October.
Discuss with the builders the type of wall on the new border.
Work until late on the crowd surrounding King Abdullah.
Morning in studio before going with my Mum to Freda's garden party which has become a large annual village event held for charity, usually the premature baby unit at the hospital and ME. It's packed with lots of familiar faces as well as treasures of varying natures on different stalls. I manage to acquire an assortment including three huge reels of industrial thread - 800 metres on each, red, blue and green (which will probably end up with the vast collection of things that "might creatively come in useful one day"). A beautiful little Japanese vase which we suspect was made in about nineteen hundred; decorated with one of the figures that appeared in the Noh play we saw in Kyoto. An Edwardian plate and other bric-a-brac. R, who joins us later to carry back the plants we have bought, finds several books including Arthur Golding's Memoirs of a Geisha, Karouac's On the Road (we'd given Nathan our copy) and A Passage to India.
Work till the early hours.
Work on the crowd at the top of the King Abdullah painting.
Begin overlapping the heads on the lower half of the canvas with others, contrasting profiles with the white backgrounds of guttras.
It's now beginning to feel more rounded as a composition
Generally firming up the composition.
The plumbers have started work today.
I've transferred back to the painting of the standing figure of Abdullah, King of Saudi Arabia with his sword at the Janaderiah festival VIP opening opera ; the small figures of the many performers in the background on the two levels of the elaborate set.
Today the house is full of builders plumbers and an electrician all beavering away expertly in their own areas. Up and down ladders, inside and outside. Eddy seems to co-ordinate them all, ticking anyone off who uses bad language
Call from Brian Sinfield re reproductions of newspaper painting for one of his clients
I'm having to do a lot a manoeuvring of the expansive set and figures to make it convincing and to create a composition that fits onto this vertical canvas (60 x 46 inches). I rework the head of King Abdullah until 2 am.
Off to London with my Mum where we meet my sister on the A10 / M25 intersection who is taking her to stay with them for the week. Then on to Nathan's to collect him for a birthday tea that Henrietta and kev have prepared in their garden; a lovely occasion with balloons, hooters and party food. Later we take Nathan and one of his friends for an Indian dinner in Stoke Newington. It's 4.30 by the time we arrive home.
E mail from Caroline Knowles saying she knows I'm very busy but would I have time to produce another painting for them to reproduce on their Christmas card.
I'm currently camping out in my studio as the house is in chaos; pipes and water coming out of the front door where the radiator system is being drained and cleaned out in readiness for the new boiler which will also power radiators in the new building.
E mail from Hugh saying that he did receive the photograph and transparency in time to complete the design for the second boxed set of the history of King Crimson.