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SEPTEMBER 2006
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Friday 1.9.06
Whilst working in the studio I get a call from Norman Henry in New Jersey, saying he hasn't forgotten me. He wants to buy a couple of works soon. He's having dinner with Barbara Taylor Bradford and the sculptress Edwina Sandys this weekend.
I'm now making good progress on the start of the Souk, last night I painted rapidly many more coffee pots across the bottom edge of the canvas, struggled with the main protagonist but after wiping off several attempts I turned him to profile and suddenly had a face and shape that felt right. Today I added the second protagonist then many smaller figures receding to an entrance in the far distance.
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Have been looking at the Edvard Munch catalogue - we saw the exhibtion at the Royal Academy last year - at reproductions of The Scree nd 'The Madonna, the two paintings that were stolenj a couple of years ago. and were yesterday recovered by the Norweigan Police. They seem to be intact. There is great jubilation in Norway where Munch is their most famous son. It's thought that the security at the Munch Museum was rather lax at the time but will have no doubt have improved arter the theft
Ella from Estonia comes to supper; she's helping to organise the exhibition from this end. It's fascinating talking to her as she is from Tallin and has only been working here for two months. Her history of the country and the way it affected the life of her grandparents, parents and her own during the German and Russian occupations is moving. I ask her about their singing revolution. She also gives us lots of good advice for the trip.
I'm back with the camels, adding more in the distance. They feel almost primeval. With their long curved necks and large humped bodies one can imagine them having roamed the deserts and the plains long before man arrived.
Sketch in the overall structure of the Souk with its separate stalls on either side and I move some figures around
My Mum arrives back from a week with my sister and Howell. She's now knitted two elephants and is looking very well.
Lots of e-mails today. one from Courtyard Books asking if I'd like to give a talk at the book fair on Sunday 15th in the Tithe Barn. Several regarding the forthcoming exhibition in Estonia; from the gallery, the sponsor's PA Ella and the cultural attaché at the Embassy, who are also all in communication with each other.
Today I work on the camels then later refining on Karl's and continue the Stack's interior around the two sides of the frame.
I've now suspended a row of tassels across the upper edge of the canvas,(the frame becoming part of the hanging) on the Souk painting. We saw many woollen or camel hair tassels attached or sometimes just strung on twisted lengths of multicoloured wool in Saudi Arabia. Now in my studio they dangle from the bottom of the camel bags and wall hanging; wonderful fat handmade tassels that once adorned the camel tents or souk.
Souk and the Karl Monday commission absorb my day.
Call from Brian Sinfield checking the price of Passage of Time.
Working on the souk and Karl Monday's horses, into the silks creating the form within.
Call from Miranda at Brian Sinfield's gallery saying they have sold The Passage of Time.
Have taken the coffee pots right across front bottom edge of the canvas now and added more figure in the different stalls.
Jane and David come for supper; they're hoping to go back to Australia and Tasmania in October, depending on how well Jane's mother is. They ask if we have seen the big supplement on David Hockney in the Guardian; his brother John Hockney was one of Dauid's MA students at Sydney School of Art as was the deputy prime Minister. They are very excited as in one of the old cow sheds on her Mother's small holding, they have found all the old log books from her Grandfather a sea captain's voyages. Also the most exquisite hand coloured photograph on glass, of her great grandmother which I am going to do a little restoration on. Fascinating as we all recognise a resemblance to Jane.
Brian Sinfield rings to give me the choice of two dates for my show with him next year. Have gone for the latter half of July like my lost show with him in 2004. Start a couple of new canvases on the strength of it.
Richard had primed and stretched them in the hope of encouraging me to do so.
It's a beautiful day. We sow grass seed and plant Narcissi and daffodil bulbs on the verge running along the new wall, which Jane and David thought looked Moroccan or Indian with its little circular pillars and their pointed roofs
Continue with the new canvasses through the day, then return to the commissions during the evening.
Spent the day sketching out in paint on canvas an idea for Caroline and Simon which they had discussed with Richard earlier in the summer; although by the time they see it, they have moved their idea to a rather more peopled scenario, so will save this beginning and start another canvas for them. It's very useful talking to them in the studio and over supper - it's always better face to face. They spot a smaller work, Dancers, ( on the floor propped against a table leg in the studio), which Richard had moved off the easel to accommodate the new canvas with sketched in idea; they immediately relate to it and ask if it's available. Simon designs very beautiful bespoke bars - there's one in the Royal Exchange, London, made of gleaming pewter - very 21st century ( almost sci-fi ) and architectural unlike the old format wooden bars which are more like furniture. They run the business from a wonderful old chapel ; it's always a joy working with them.
Caroline confirms that they would also like the small Dancers painting.
The larger of the two new canvases absorbs my day, and the commissions my evening.
Meanwhile Richard has been busy constructing enormous wooden crates to house the works on their journey to Estonia.
Phone call from Joyce to discuss the commission for her sister and brother in law (the Stacks). I am rather pleased that there is no desperate hurry for the painting.
R's still building the crates, it's going to be tight finishing them on time for the shippers who arrive tomorrow. We only heard at the end of last week that the works had to be crated for the insurance and there wasn't time for the shippers to organise it.
R goes to collect the paintings from Robert and Toyah's home. He catches a wave from Toyah who is driving out as he is driving in.
Miranda phones from Brian Sinfields's gallery wanting an image of Valentine's Day.
The shippers arrive about 11.3O am. Richard has packed and fixed the tops down; I suddenly realise that we haven't put FRAGILE on them so run to the studio to collect a pot of red paint and brush and duly paint in very large letters FRAGILE. Eddy and Wayne raise the very heavy crates on ropes carrying them one by one to the tail lift where Richard and the driver take over, transporting them to the other end of the enormous truck. As we see its blue silhouette disappearing down the Lane I turn to say thank you to Richard and the boys and smile as I see part of a large red R across Richard's chest. I just hope that the driver isn't wearing one of the other letters on his smart uniform!
E mail from Gerli at the Draakon Galleri in Estonia who says she is pleased that the paintings are now on their way and also that they are wondering if it would be better for the journalist to interview me at the gallery, rather than travelling over to Cheltenham. She was going to come this week but we hadn't been able to co-ordinate times.
Very nice phone call from John at Courtyard Books who paid compliments to Richard's web site but very politely pointed out that the link to their site wouldn't work as he's omitted to put the R in Courtyard. R amended this immediately. He also asks if I could write a couple os sentences about the talk I'm giving on 15 October at the book festival in the Tithe Barn, Bishop's Cleeve.
I now have another two new canvases up in the studio, one square the other rectangular, to try out ideas for the Cantilever painting. Busy on all fronts; karl's commission and some work on the other new beginnings.
There is an abundance of plums, pears and apples on our trees this year; we pick the plums fresh each day, eating them as they come off the tree. R has made two more apple cakes as my Mum is coming round for tea. Henrietta Kev and Isaac are back from Spain - Isaac's first foreign journey.
Nice e mail from Gill in the Appeals Office at the Star College, with a photograph attached of me giving a hug to Elizabeth Rankin, the Star student who we awarded First Prize in photography to. It's good as it shows Elizabeth holding Tristram's sculpture which he cast in bronze as the Award.
Studio now bursting with canvases. Work on all fronts.
ditto
Wednesday 20.9.06
ditto
We drive up to ~London for the first screening (cast and crew) of Nathan's short film Lexicon at a cinema in Soho. We're the first to arrive so wait outside with an ever increasing group, for Henrietta, Kev and Isaac. It's being screened twice so Kev and I sit playing games with Isaac at an outside table of a bar just down the road. It's such a beautiful evening with a warm breeze blowing in from Spain. When Richard and Henrietta appear, we swap Isaac over although I persuade Henrietta to bring him to the cinema and he watches until about half way through when the music becomes quite high pitched at the scary part. The film looks stunning and magical with a particularly atmospheric sequence in Nathan's man made forest; the soundtrack too is quite wonderful.
After we've said good-bye to H, K and Isaac (now asleep in his push chair), we join the cast and crew for drinks outside the Star and Garter.
On arriving home there's a message from Lee in new York asking if certain works are available as she has some interested clients.
On the invitation of Greg Smith (Principal of GLOSCAT, one of the country's largest colleges of further education) I visit the Gloucester campus where he and Andy Ginn (Director of Art and media) show me around. I'm very impressed by the depth and breadth of courses,the staff and facilities. Am delighted to spot amongst the attentive students in the photography class, Elizabeth Rankin - I'm able to say hello and tell the group that she was awarded First Prize at the National Star College.
During the evening we go dinner with our friends and neighbours Richard and Rose, to celebrate his birthday. Do a couple of hours more in the studio on our return.
Move from canvas to canvas. It's exciting as I am working in both oils and acrylics. The extraordinary thing is, as R points out, I always manage to get war-paint-like stripes of oil colour on my face but not so much on my clothes whereas it's the reverse with acrylics it's the vestments and floor that get splattered!! On Radio 4 I hear Susan Burdin(playing the mother in whistle Down the Wind ; it was she who presented me with the prize in the Gift of Life Exhibition during the nineties.
Nice letter from Nester, who I've known for many years, saying that Sharon her actress daughter, who has been working in a gallery for several years now owns it and would like me to meet her there for lunch.
R drives the horse paintings to the Melton Carnegie Museum in Leicestershire the next venue for the "A Day at the Races" exhibition where it opens next week. Meanwhile I'm working on the Cantilever commission.
E mail from the Morohashi Museum in Japan to say the exhibition has now come to a close. It was seen by 33,000 people. Received letter from John Childs at the Michael Heseltine Gallery, Chenderit with two events programmes wearing Arts & Books on the cover and The Camel Herdsman and The Bathers inside.
Nice letter from Lisa at the Open museum enclosing two postcards with a reproduction of my painting The Beautiful Game on the front and part of the back; it was used for an exhibition of the same title on Football and Fashion, in Leicestershire.
Working on the Cantilever commission - it's beginning to take shape.
Statement from the Bridgeman Art Library. I'm fascinated to see that two of these reproductions are using the two other football painting I made; Armchair Supporters in a German newspaper (like The Beautiful Game it is now owned by the Open Museum in Leicestershire) and The Big Match in a book on Chelsea. I imagine the World Cup had some bearing on the flurry of use of these particular works as The Beautiful Game was reproduced in a large article in the French paper Liberation.
Working on the Cantilever commission.