JULY 2005
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Call from James, head of sculpture at the university, sorting out the amount that the materials and casting for the sculpture cost and the amount for Tristram's prize etc. and also furnishes me with the names of the other students who took part as I would like to send them each a book token in appreciation of the high standard of their work and the thought and imagination that went into making the maquettes. E mail from Rosina with a drawing of the silver badges that she has designed and is making as part of the award. They look beautiful.
Daytime hours spent on newspaper canvas but later work until 3am on the carpet seller.
Henrietta, Kev and Nathan arrive late afternoon looking well. There's a lot of secret activity going on in the kitchen. My special birthday dinner is made of combined efforts with a finale of two birthday cakes, a sculpted one from a mould nathan has made to cast from (I'll also be receiving the first solid cast from this) and a beautiful heart shaped carrot cake from Henrietta; she has also painted a myriad of little cakes which Kev has mounted and frames; it's exquisite. I'm also fortunate to receive the new Frieda Khalo catalogue published by the Tate. It's a lovely evening, Nathan entertaining us with his humorous repartee and he especially teases my Mum.
After brunch we're off to Gifford's Circus. It's a glorious hot day and the small tent is full to bursting. Lots of children. A magical performance drawing on the 1920's for inspiration with music from opera to rock with the addition of the usual circus sound effects. Brilliant dancing and trapeze work; Cossack riding troop from the Russian State Circus and also the acrobats were from the same and performed a Russian Bar act.
The heat wave continues, giving good light in the studio for working on the Saudi Arabian canvases.
ditto
There's much celebrating in London today as the news that London has won the bid to stage the 2012 Olympics against hot competition from Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow.
The day starts well with a call from Rob Whittle who tells me he hung the painting he's just sold at his clients home, where he says it looks well. But he's now wondering if I can let him have another work for the Art & Antiques Fair towards the end of the month, which he would also like to use on his card. This is followed shortly afterwards by a call from my sister; she's on a train going to Leeds for meetings with Social Services to exchange ideas. She's just been rung by Howell who's very concerned about her as there have been reports of explosions on trains and a bus in London - she's phoning me so that I can contact Henrietta, Kev and Nathan. Luckily they are all safe although Kev had travelled by train to Kings Cross this morning. We spend the day listening to the terrible news reports and wonder how many lives have been shattered by death and injury in these horrendous events. I had been afraid this might happen at some time as retribution to the war in Iraq.
In the evening we escape the gloom to visit the National Star College where the students are exhibiting their photography. The standard of work is really high - not a lot of concession here to the fact that most are in wheelchairs and often have physical difficulties in operating the camera and darkroom equipment. We meet Tristram whose winning design is exhibited along with the the entrants from the competition I held at the University Art School to design a sculpture as the Award for the Star College star photographer.
whilst listening to the news throughout the day I work on the patterning of the camel bag - painting the fine weaving I begin to get a feel for the rhythms in it.
Richard had been to the kitchen garden shed with his torch last night and was surprised to see lots of red berries glowing in the darkness. The bushes he had carefully planted last year had, whilst he wasn't looking, yielded the most abundant crop. In daylight we also discover that the black current bushes are also laden with masses of black shiny fruit.
Just as we are about to leave for dinner with Richard and Rose the telephone rings. It's Professor Ken in Cape Cod. They have been being hit by storms there and he says he's enquiring to make sure we are alright. But I suspect he's also concerened after the terrorist bombings. It's so good to hear him and Nancy; they sound bright and happy. I thank them for all the brilliant birthday presents they sent me and tell him the room is full of rainbows cast by the rainbow maker. My Mum also joins us for the supper to celebrate Rose's birthday.
Today is the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the war. Parades in London. It seems tragic that this day has also to relate to Thursdays shattering events. Lots of speeches and from the Queen all saying that Londoners and the whole country have learned from the examples set sixty years ago, that they will not let terrorism change their way of life.
Strange to be painting old roof tiles but here I am on the grass with rows of them as some are not quite the right colour or tone for the roof, buying from a reclamation yard you can't always see all you getting when purchasing several thousand. Have mixed up watery solutions of acrylic paint that I brush on to give varied texture and colour to each.
The roof tiling (started about a month ago) is finished by the time I begin work in the studio; t's now looking like part of the original house.
Call from Tom Tempest Radford to say that 01 Art Services will be collecting the paintings on Friday. I tried to gain an extra couple of days by suggesting that R could take the two newspaper works up on Monday afternoon but he's anxious to have them before than so that Julian can hang them in readiness before the private view on Tuesday. This means we 'll have to pull all the stops out!
So heads down for the final push on the newspaper works.
It's almost unbearable to hear the invoices of those who are looking for relatives still missing after Thursdays terrible attacks.
I'm rather pleased to receive call from Rob Whittle as I'd been meaning to postpone his visit to collect another work. With imminent deadline of the works for Tempest Radford I haven't had time to do the finishing work on the piece for him.
A two minutes silence at midday across the country and Europe to contemplate and remember the fifty four people who died in last week's terrorist attacks and those who still remain in hospital with severe and critical injuries and all their families.
Call from Ann saying they'd like to buy another small painting - have I got anything around at the moment? I'm touched but hard as I try I can't think of anything that is currently available although as soon as I've put the phone down I remember that there are two small works with my London dealer one of which might be the right scale.
Slept from 6 am until 11.20 am before painting Bob Geldorf's head on The Independent Magazine and a few bits of tidying up on top of the frame whilst R writes in a little caption on The Observer review about Francis Bacon before packing them; which is still in progress when 01 Art Services arrive to collect these and the other works for Tempest Radford the art consultants. A huge phew of relief!! we've done it!! Open the post. Big envelope for Lisa at Artworks, full of photographs of the children of Holyoaks School with me when I presented the painting and gave the talk there last month. Phone call from Sophia at the Art Gallery & Museum to arrange meeting for further discussions on the Day at the Races exhibition next year.
Mix up jars of new colour for the Saudi Arabian canvases. This hot weather makes them dry up very quickly
Glorious sunny afternoon for the Senior Residents' Club Summer Fair. My Mum's on the plant stall as usual, with Olive and Joan. En route we are waylaid by John in jesters hat and both failed to get three ping-pong balls into the bucket but were each rewarded with a sweet anyway. The plant stall looks half empty by the time we've finished buying new delights for our gardens. Plants bought here on previous years have proved to be wonderfully hardy, returning each summer; fuschias, geraniums and daisies that fill the centre bed of my studio garden. R then makes a beeline for the book stall whilst I buy scones, pots of jam, some little porcelain roses from the jewellery counter to add to my collection and three beautiful hand made bags as presents. It's always a lovely local event and it's good to see my Mum's friends en masse. Then it's home to pick more raspberries, black currents and gooseberries. such bliss!
Another gloriously hot day which I spend freshening up Playing For Time, a work that I bought back with the idea of keeping but since i now have nothing else available have said that Rob Whittle can show it at the Art & Antiques Fair in a couple of weeks.
Bang on time we see the members of the Tewkesbury Art History group from the University of the Third Age congregating outside. they have come for a talk by Richard this time, which he starts by looking at the Said Business School, a work still in progress and travels back to St Michael and All Angels painted in 1990. He then looks at some of his wood engravings which lead into a talk on printmaking and a history of the printing process. They are a most interesting group, full of people with many different expertise. We then go over the road to see the progress in the commissions and other works that they had previously seen in their infancy when they visited the studio last year.
A box arrives from Rosina beech containing five of the large silver badges she has designed for me to present to the Award winning photography student. R has been to take the sculpted award to the engraver to have the winning student's name cut into brass plate on the base. Still touching up Playing For Time. Rob and Sandra Whittle arrive to collect about 4pm.
My studio is filling up with the addition of two more large canvases that R has stretched and primed in unbleached titanium gesso for the Saudi Arabian series. Last week I received several e mails from Mamdouh in Riyadh with lots of images of a journey similar to those he'd made with us through the desert and to Al-Dirriyah.
Lovely afternoon at the National Star College Awards Ceremony. I was pleased to see Dan Howard, Dean of Arts Faculty Campus of the university of Gloucestershire, James Castle head of sculpture and Tristram the young sculptor who made the award winning piece, there. Lots of students, parents and staff; some tearful leavers sad to be departing from this wonderfully warm and stimulating environment where they will have gained a tremendous amount of skills and formed many strong bonds with fellow students and staff. It's very moving. When I award Tristram his prize I ask if he will present his sculpture to Andy Milne, winner of the first prize for photography (his photographs were taken in his local pub, well considered, well composed and witty). Ffion Davies, second prize winner, had developed innovative methods to operate her camera and darkroom equipment, breaking new ground for the photography department. Elizabeth Rankin, third prize, is an articulate American girl who also shows considerable flair.
Whilst we are at the Star College we hear news that there have been another three attempted bombings on the Underground train system in London again and one on a bus - the same pattern as before. But luckily the detonators didn't work and a man was seen running away from each of the stations.
E mail from Jane Hall at Tempest Radford asking for some text to go with each of the paintings that are being exhibited in the atrium at the Prudential's headquarters and an artist's statement. Also enquires if Tom has mentioned a lunchtime talk to interested staff there which of course he hasn't. Could I give some possible dates.
Lots of police activity in London, they pursued and held a man on the floor of the train and shot him five times, which would perhaps indicate that from his dress and behaviour that they thought he had a bomb; he had been under surveillance.
Envelope from Martin Bailey who has sent a photocopy of a reproduction of my painting Artist and Model from the Oil Paintings in Public Ownership - East Sussex volume of the Public Catalogue Foundation which has just come out.
The little starling who was unable to fly and that I've been feeding for the past four days with fruit and dampened bread, is not in the garden today. So I'm hoping that he'd gained enough strength to do so as he had looked a little stronger each day.
Am working into the composition of the souk carpet seller, strengthening and intensifying colour of the rugs, camel bags and also the figures in the foreground.
When R comes back with the newspaper we are sad to see an obituary on Sir Frank Rogers who has died at the age of 85. Sir Frank was a great friend of Professor Ken and Nancy Simmonds who had commissioned me to do a painting for his seventieth birthday. he invited us all to dinner in the directors dining room at the Telegraph's offices in Canary Wharf where we had a magnificent view over Docklands. A most engaging and entertaining man, he loved food and eating at restaurants; he and his late wife Esme took us and the Simmonds for lunch in a wonderfully obscure private restaurant in Northleach where he had arranged every detail in advance.
"..Although never a household name, Frank Rogers was one of the half-dozen most influential newspaper executives of the second half of the twentieth century. He ran the Daily Mirror in its 1960's heyday and was later Chairman of Emap, the highly successful magazine and regional newspaper publisher. he played a key role in the success of the Daily T elegraph following its acquisition by Conrad Black in 1985 and became a popular guru of the industry, respected for his unflappability and sound judgement. One of his enduring achievements was to mastermind the establishment of the Press Complaints Commission in 1991..............." The Independent
Tragic to hear that the young man the police shot was an innocent Brazilian on his way to work. Very sad - a terrifying outcome of a shoot to kill policy where there's no going back on a mistake.
Working in the studio when my Mum calls; it's her birthday and she's had a surprise visit from my sister Gill who's taking her out to lunch. On their way back they call in and we show Gill around the building works up the two ladders to the top floor. It's interesting for me as I only come up occasionally, to see the views through the small circular window and the larger one on the first floor. I'd noticed last time that the sun shines through it until it sets in the evening, giving a beautiful warm glow to the space. Gill then drives back up to Hertfordshire.
Richard's prepared a birthday dinner whilst I've been painting a giant birthday card. We are joined by Richard Rose and Minny in the evening. It's wonderful to see my Mum looking so bright and well on her eighty third birthday you'd never guess she had tuberculosis as a young woman.
Good progress on the souk carpet seller which is now becoming more alive with the multi coloured rugs rolled in high stacks and suspended along with camel bags and tassels from the ceiling.
R takes call from Anne Davis who says they would like to have The Descent from the Ark.
The weather's been much cooler for the past five days with some long awaited rain; so light not as good but probably more even.
Friday 29.7.05
Troubled call from Hugh at Discipline Global with a slight concern about their new boxed production to contain 4 CDs. It was already to go into production wearing one of my Comic Strip paintings on the cover and various other newspaper works reproduced inside, when one of their team (an avid comic collector) decided that as I'd painted some of my readers with Superman, Spiderman and Batman on some of the comics they ought to write to DC comics to ask if they would mind. And of course being one of those muzzy areas of copyright DC said they would 'frown upon it'. It's a hugely contentious issue as they are actually reproducing it because it's my painting rather than because it contains my immersions of the comics that my readers might be holding. Which begs the question, what about the pop artists Peter Blake, Eduardo Paolozzi and of course the great Lichtenstein. Picasso of course said that 'a good artist doesn't borrow, he steals', then making it his own by altering it to suit his own vision. But so as to cause no offence we end up sending images of four other works that might fit the bill.
Sunday 31.7.05
My Mum joins us all for a late lunch before Kev drives back up to London.
Henrietta is stayng on for a couple of days. After we've walked my Mum home,
she and I go on a walk doing a longish circuit of the village. Later, after
she's gone to bed, I do another stint in the studio until 3.30am on the
carpet seller which I'd managed to make quite a lot of progress on in the
morning. I wanted to get it as near to completion as I could to be photographed
for R to e mail to Saudi Arabia.