DECEMBER 2004
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Interesting e mail from Jane in Tasmania saying they have just seen one of my newspaper paintings in a television programme about Conrad Black. He commissioned it in 2001 at the time of the controversial Canwest merger with board members reading papers from the group. It seems remarkable that my paintings are reaching such remote parts. She also says they have been reading the tales of our travels in Japan; suggests that I ought to do an illustrated book, which is certainly food for thought, especially coming from Jane who is a journalist, science writer and has travelled far more widely than most, even spending some time marooned on an island with six others as part of an experiment. She says they are now coping with possums, bandicoots and echidnas. Luckily the bandicoots like strawberry jam and they have managed to catch eight and take them to a nearby nature reserve. It makes the squirrels, deer and pheasant that attack their garden in the Cotswolds seem rather commonplace. They also have to deal with poisonous jumping spiders and snakes. Long live the spirit of adventure. And in the same spirit we have confirmed that we will make the trip to Saudi Arabia next year, where I think R might get ideas above his station if I have to walk behind him.
A day of mixed creativity, looking at the Japanese canvases, formulating ideas and more work to both the newspaper canvases for Standard Chartered and the left hand side of the frame of The Bar.
Proof comes from the printers of the reproduction of The Bar. Caroline phones R to say fantastic - I paint more on the frame.
Start a new Fish Market canvas as have decided to change the composition, focussing more on the market than the auction. Putting down vague impressions in light terracotta paint. Also start street scene with Toyota taxi.
Our builders, Eddy and Les have had a good week; although it's been quite cold most days have been bright and sunny. It's exciting to see the red bricks now laid above the blue. Eddy has carefully removed the corner stones in the existing building to put them on the new corner. They are also pleased with their progress; it's so nice to hear their happy banter whilst they work.
A day of working on everything. A bowler hat on one of the newspaper works, referencing Caillbotte and Magritte. The top of the frame on The Bar and then in the early hours whilst R is having a sleep before going to Paris I have enough courage to start applying colour to the fish market.
R leaves for Paris in hired van during early hours. He's collecting a couple of paintings we've managed to buy back and will also have a chance to see the new gallery space that Michelle and Alain have just acquired. he arrives there at about 2pm. After they have put the paintings in they walk from Blondel 2 to the new gallery which is a beautiful space in the Marais on three floors. It's situated just behind Musee Picasso and close to many other prestigious galleries. There's a lot of work to be done but Alain is hoping that it will open at the end of February.
Star College Newsletter which includes piece about me opening the new buildings and a cheque from Robert Sandelson arrive in this mornings post.
Meanwhile I'm making a concerted effort on the Japanese paintings, particularly the fish market which is now beginning to take more shape and colour. Work until 2.30am having also done a little more to the street scene. R arrives back at 5am.
R's very pleased with my progress especially on the Fish Market, also the Toyota taxi. Start reworking the maiko and geiko canvas, repainting the background. The parasols have gone, replaced by their own shadows; will see how it looks in the morning!
Didn't to get into the studio till later today as we show prospective tenants around number 80 and then I walk my Mum home after she calls in on her return from aerobics.
Contemplate the fish market for a while, adding some small figures in the distance but then take courage and paint the central geiko out on the other canvas, replacing with an opening below a split bamboo blind framing the beginning of a view into an interior. Also partially obscure the meiko to her right with a blind, though toying with other ideas for this area too. I've now painted three horizontal stripes across the lower half of composition, forming a balcony on which the three remaining geisha stand. The geiko to the right now holding a fan. When Richard brings the dinner over I request an extra half hour so it's a little cold by the time it re arrives. Work on until 1 am partly because at half past twelve the late night serialised reading is of Peter Carey's "Wrong About Japan" particularly interesting as it's a trip he takes with his son to research manga, the popular Japanese comics that R's bag was so full of (for a painting) on our return. Also tonight the Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller was announced [ apparently he declares that he can't draw or paint and he wasn't allowed to take GCSE Art]. Its for his video of interviews with customers in George Bush's favourite diner in Texas. The late Carel Weight CH, RA did both a wonderful painting and a hand drawn lithograph of Turner going to Heaven; I wonder what he'd make of it from his elevated vantage point. There is a report in todays paper surveying contemporary artists to see what their response is to the Turner Prize and only 12% of the respondents said they thought the prize represented the best of British art. But I guess it is wonderful at whipping up excitement and courting controversy which always makes great publicity.
Call from Caroline to say how pleased they are with the cards that have just been delivered by the printers. I tell her that I'm hoping to have the actual painting finished soon; I'm still working around the frame. Ours arrive an hour later and the colour does look accurate.
Have now added a red lantern fairly central to the top of the composition and red folded parasol at the bottom of the geiko and meiko canvas. Also manage a bit to the first of the newspaper works; R's been putting in mastheads on the other one - some are quite complicated particularly the Chinese and Arabic but are very beautiful.
Touching little story on the news today. The people of Crete had collected over ¤1m from often quite small, ¤5 or ¤10, donations, to buy an El Greco painting from a Christie's auction in London. The donations all come from the people of the island rather than big businesses, partly in a bid to reclaim him as a Cretan.
Working further into the balcony on the maiko and geiko canvas building up the mystery and filling out the composition. Then later in the evening a sailors hat on the first of the two Standard Chartered Bank newspaper canvases and also top of the frame of The Bar.
In the papers today and on yesterdays radio news, controversy at the Royal Academy where Lawton Fitt and Academy exhibitions officer Norman Rosenthal do not see eye to eye. It seems that Fitt was brought in to improve the Academy's finances; a multi millionaire herself she has worked as a banker and is on the board of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She is leaving because she couldn't cope with the system where nobody is really responsible for anything. The academy of course is artist run and directed and she found it very hard to get anything to happen. They had for instance taken over the Museum of Mankind which lies directly behind them opening it with a big Versace exhibition last year. But nothing much has happened there since. It's costing them £300,000 a year just to keep it closed but; but to have it open to the public with exhibitions would cost £1m a year. 2004 has been a difficult year as some months ago Professor Brendan Neiland head of the Art School was found to have an unauthorised bank account of £80,000 and no financial records. In 1996 the then Bursar was found to have stolen £400,000. I don't suppose this would go down well with donors and supporters of the Academy. It was Fitt's sacking of Brenden that first revealed the resentment towards her by artist members. Artist run academies are wonderful but very difficult to steer as I discovered when I was on the Council at the Royal West of England Academy; lots of good ideas are suggested but it's very difficult implementing them.
Good day in the studio. Have now moved the head of the meiko looking through the blind and added a figure behind her; also moved the figure performing the tea ceremony slightly towards the left. A lot more work to the second newspaper commission canvas; the figure in the front reading an Arabic paper now has a black head dress and the man reading the Singapori paper has become Chinese.
Small white rectangles making up the shapes on paper screens are now covering the central panel; the back of the interior view between and beneath the outer blinds on the Geisha canvas. I've also moved the two figures within the interior slightly to the left and enlarged the maiko. It's now hanging together better and feels a more resolved. In between I worked on the second newspaper commission for Standard Chartered; large head on the upper right in profile has now become an Indian woman with plait and the man reading Figaro has grown a moustache and like Proust looks a more French. Also still working the top of The Bar frame. R has just put it back up on the easel so that I can refine the sides. It's such bliss having the new easels with wheels that R has ordered two more for me from Cornelissen's. The house is now full of a further eleven large frames that Tim has just finished making for me. Am really pleased as added to the more unusual shapes that John has made for me I have never had so many frames ready and waiting to go in the studio before, they should keep me going for quite a while. Although it is always the one shape or size I haven't got that I decide I need! Tim's now used up all the wood I had turned and delivered on the eve of our departure to Japan.
R goes to London to deliver two of his London Business School prints and collect the two easels from Cornelissen's which in their huge boxes fill the back of the Volvo. On his return he goes via Professor Ken and Nancy where there is much excitement as they are leaving for new Zealand on Christmas Eve. He is going to become Professor of Global Strategy at Auckland University this is added to being Professor Emeritus at LBS and a Fellow at the Said Business School in Oxford University. E mail makes it possible for him to be in contact with all his students wherever they are. He comes back bearing the most enormous box of Christmas gifts from them.
Today has been spent painting the kimono of the maiko who stands with her back to us, which is mostly covered by the obi. It's wonderful how the designs on each are totally different yet do not feel disparate; they combine many different patterns and colours layer by layer making an exquisite whole. Have also painted in the low table for the tea ceremony and put a flower arrangement in the vase that usually accompanies it. Also some time on the top of The Bar.
It's almost dark when I get into the studio as we have been to see our nice neighbours Penny and Nick about the possibility of purchasing a small strip of land behind us. Then off to buy a large Christmas tree [always fun] baskets of flowers as presents, gifts for other Christmas trees and primulas and miniature pansies for the garden.
R's taken the Bar canvas out of it's frame for me to go around the small white edge that had been under the frame. More to the newspaper canvases. I'm surprised when I hear a little knock on my studio door about midnight; it's Bob standing there with Patches his Jack Russell. He's bearing the little angel painting that he and Sylvia bought from the Burford exhibition - I had forgotten to sign it, probably because it had originally been a present for Richard who kindly let me put it into the exhibition so that we could donate the proceeds towards the National Star College art department trip to New York. I always try to have a painting, particularly in local exhibitions, that I give for the Star College. I show him the big triptych construction for the altarpiece at the church and he tells us about the developments they are in the process of making, including the choir vestry in the South transept to become a Lady Chapel.
Still writing Christmas cards - well over a hundred so far. Have remembered that I have a dear client who was hoping for a corrugated newspaper work which I started in the Summer; so spend most time working on this. It's amazing what a difference an intense days work can make on a smaller piece.
Nice e mail from Great Roberto in Buenos Aries where he is on tour. We'd let him know that my Mum had been able to answer a particular question on the grand final of Mastermind when watching it on television last week, the question being "which group does the guitarist Robert Fripp play with?". Robert tells us that Toyah is playing the wicked black fairy in Pantomime at Canterbury.
Day working on the Bar painting and yet more Christmas cards. In the evening we start to decorate the Christmas tree which is such a noble shape and colour; it looks beautiful with the tiny white lights and the combination of Christmas tree gifts and those we have collected over the years, bringing back memories of places we have visited when buying them; the angel on the top from Belgium at the time of my exhibition at the art fair in Gent and the wooden ones lower down from Chappaqua, [ New York state ] during my New York show. Then thoughts of the friends who have given us others particularly Janet who sends an exquisite piece each year. Dear Nancy Simmonds has even made some that contained our photographs when Henrietta and Nathan were quite young. Every year there's a package from them for the tree amongst our presents. The brown cardboard star with glitter on each side was made by Henrietta whilst still at primary school. Start to paint some wooden boxes in the foreground of the Fish Market; I particularly wanted to include these as they have rather nice Japanese characters printed on the side in red and black.
Back in the studio after dinner, a walk and a visit from Bob, I work on the kimono of the first maiko. Maiko are only found in Kyoto and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to have seen them. we are still enjoying Lisa Dalby' book Geisha. The geisha are often still practising their profession and the classical arts when they are in their sixties. Some then go on to teach the shamisen, the drum, dance, singing, tea ceremony and flower arranging. The japanese do not seem to discard people as they grow old; kabuki actors are often still performing quite aggressive or sexy roles when they are eighty and certainly a lot of the people, both male and female, who we saw performing at the Noh theatre in the park of Nagoya Castle, were older
Phone call from a dealer in the Midlands who had written to me. He is coming to visit the studio on Monday as he would like to exhibit a couple of paintings at the National Fine Art & Antiques Fair in January and wants something as a centrepiece. Not that I've got very much work here; he asks about the painting on my letter heading which his wife had thought delightful. But of course it's the Travelling Players that sold last year. With this in mind decide to spend an hour or two working the figures around the new frame on the oval circus; I'd pinched the original for a smaller circus painted for the Brian Sinfield Show which sold during the exhibition.
Then a call from Brian himself as we haven't spoken for a while to wish us a Happy Christmas.
More Christmas cards - more work on The Bar. Then on to the pink kimono of the geiko on the left of the large geisha canvas. I am considering adding another geiko to the interior that covers the central section of the composition ..
E mail from Tempest Radford asking if I can confirm that we can deliver the two commissions for Standard Chartered Bank by the 12th January. Call from Rita - collector, friend - who is going to come to the studio bringing three friends, to see the small corrugated newspaper work, on 2nd January.
Call from Caroline to ask if a magazine who are doing a piece on them can reproduce The Bar in the article.
Start to add another geiko to the central section of composition playing the shamissen, kneeling and partly obscured by the struts of the balcony. Then go into Cheltenham to do some Christmas shopping. On my return decide that because of the angle of her head and kneeling position she perhaps looks as if she's falling to one side. So start to repaint changing the angle of her head and then body slightly to one side. When Richard came over to the studio for me at 1 am I told him I would only be another 20 minutes but on awaking [after reading in the chair] he tells me it's been and hour and twenty minutes!
Lots in the news on art. Maggie Hambling's bronze sculpture of Oscar Wilde in Westminster has for the third time had the cigarette sawn off; apparently she'd given him a cigarette as she's an avid smoker herself and won't be photographed without one. Norman Foster's new arts centre-theatre in Gateshead in the North East England opened today; sounds like a thriving arts community up there as they also have the Baltic. Earlier in the week it was announced that with the approval of the Queen, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw is the new President of the Royal Academy - he was the designer of the Eden project.
Having added the new geiko playing the shamissen (a long necked lute) it now makes the two other geisha within the interior look too large, so paint out and alter the scale of both. Hope they will still look right in the morning!!
Nice thank you letter from Helen, principal at the Star College.
Today paint two more red lanterns, one either side of the original lantern on the Geisha canvas. I've been contemplating adding these for some time; composition now feels more resolved having also fractionally decreased the height and size of the largest of the geisha within the interior. This gives more variation in the head heights and scale. The figures on the oval frame of the Circus are now looking more worked and colourful. Still doing bits to the bottom of The Bar!
Go to dinner at Richard and Rose's they are such sweet people they give us a vegetable steamer for christmas.
Susan, the lady who used to deliver a charity magazine to us (possibly autistic?) comes to collect her Christmas card and present. She's rather an amazing person as very culturally aware; goes to the local history society meetings, exhibitions and concerts, National Trust properties , many talks at the Literary Festival etc. and tells us all about them. We rarely get to any of these things and are quite amazed. Always calls Richard 'Dick'.
R takes my Mum to get two holly wreaths, one for my father's the other for Henry's grave. Then onto the cemetery.
It's a glorious sunny day so light in studio particularly good after the recent greyness. Am working on the fish market adding two more figures to the foreground and beginning to fill the larger areas of floor with colour and tone.
Surprise call from the Great Roberto who is recently returned from Buenos Aries where he was performing. He'd mentioned a project by e mail and is ringing to sound me out. Some time ago he mentioned the idea of writing Soundscapes that could be played to accompany the paintings when on exhibition; he's thinking of Paradise, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. I tell him that at the moment I have the large alter piece triptych in the studio which is going to be Paradise. A rather wonderful coincidence. He's thinking more Milton than Bunion.
Rob and Sandra Whittle, dealers from Birmingham, come to lunch and studio visit. They would like to take some works to the Antiques and Fine Art Fair in January. Really nice dedicated people, passionate about collecting and exhibiting art. He tells us a wonderful story about how he bought three Lowry drawings from a treasure trove of a house owned by an artist it was stacked with things from floor to ceiling in all the rooms and passages. Interestingly they had them validated by the Lowry Museum in Salford. I told them that when I had seen a reproduction of a so-called Lowry drawing in the modern British auction catalogue that one of my own works had come up in last December, I had commented to Richard that I thought it was too crudely drawn and lacking in sensitivity to be a genuine Lowry! By the time of the actual auction it had been withdrawn. Recognising genuine authenticity is often difficult after the demise of the artist, the Lowry Museum had said that they reject more than they authenticate.
In the evening back in the studio I work into top background of Fish Market, Bar bottom and a tiny painting for Professor Ken and Nancy.
E mail from the Great Roberto re. the Paradise, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained project. Am rather pleased that the date he's setting completion for is May 2006 as I'm incredibly very busy this year with so many commissions to complete. Such a coincidence that I already had the large triptych altar piece waiting for Paradise to appear thereon and that creatively we both often work with the spiritual.
Good day on the fish market after finishing the little painting for Professor Ken and Nancy.
It would have been my Father's birthday today
Wednesday 22.12.04
Particularly worked on the second newspaper commission for Standard Chartered and a little more on the Fish Market.
Further correspondence from the Great Roberto re. Paradise.
Phone Kev to say Happy Birthday.
Thursday 23.12.04
After decorating a few more of the presents that R has wrapped, work on the second newspaper painting for Standard Chartered Bank as there's not long to go on these two works now.
Into Cheltenham for another Christmas present shop. Dinner and more wrapping then a spell on the Fish Market.
Eddy and Les have made good progress on the building today, the lintels having arrived; a couple are now already built in above the doorways.
Friday 24.q2.04
I'm later getting up but Richard's already been to collect the fresh fruit, turkey etc by the time I appear. He arrives back with the most enormous bouquet that our two gentlemen builders Eddy and les have got for me.
Henrietta, Kev and Nathan arrive just after 6; very good timing as they have driven from London in what must be a mass exodus. The Christmas Tree is much admired and even fuller of presents under it's boughs now.
Saturday 25.12.04 Christmas Day
My sister arrives from Essex and my Mum from around the corner. It's wonderful to be all together again and feels particularly close this Christmas.
Sunday 26.12.04
Terrible tsunami hits Thailand, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, caused by
an earthquake under the sea in the Indian Ocean. Thousands killed by these
waves that sweep with cruel force over coastal areas. Also thousands rendered
homeless and risk of disease as water supplies polluted by sewage. the current
reckoning is about 130,000 people perished but it is suspected that the
number will rise to 150,000. World-wide aid appeals are topped by Japan,
presumably particularly empathetic due to their own experiences with similar
disasters. They have pledged £500 million pounds. Here in the UK the
public's donations have exceeded the amount pledged by the government.
Teams of experts from countries all around the world such as Australia are
being flown in to assist in the recovery. I cannot imagine just how devastating
an experience it must have been.