State of Play

Recent& Unexpurgated

recent & unexpunged ~ (of a text) complete and containing all the original material; uncensored. ~ expunged: Obliterate or remove completely (something unwanted or unpleasant)
expurgated ~  having had objectionable or unsuitable matter removed.

20/20 State of Play.

22-01-2020.

There was part of me that wanted to be a potter ~ make an honest living

& part of me that wanted to be a poet ~ comments on a lifetime of experience, travelling light.

I must have plumbed for the middle ground.

14-1-20.

I realise I’ve been on a different “bent” over the last couple of months or so. Whilst doing art I’ve also been doing sleeve notes. I can think of a couple of profundities that have cropped up as I sit here (before starting)

(Where old fashioned digital art meets old fashioned painting)

I dunno Bob,
Recently I have felt myself to be, maybe at the height of my “artistic powers” – as far as a lifetime runs.
Maybe it’s time to get something out ~ that is good ~ maybe not massive or even big
but
sound.
At the moment, there is no-one else I feel I could do this with.
It’s not a final show,
but
we could keep John firmly in mind.

Making Spirits come Alive
~ What is my work about!?
start with the premise that it’s about telling stories ~
maybe putting people into a storyscape,
but more so: it’s an attempt to create a new life

~~~ I was caught off guard-so I told the truth: two experiences
Aztec Jaguar
Miro’s simplicity with “other life”
BUT!
Are these images really alive?
What is it to be alive?

Mid 70s I was looking at “different” cultures & decided to “investigate”
~ a jaguar: it looked like a carpet, but I followed it through in oil paint. At the point where I felt I had finished, I looked (again) and a yellow paw shot out to claw me, it was alive.

With Miro, I was in a lecture that involved a good slide of one of his more simplistic creatures. Again, that was alive! It was existing on the screen for me. It’s where I compare him to Dali ~ who, for me was simply describing a “surreal” existence whereas Miro had made one.

Sometimes “passive/aggressive” is a very good way of making a point. Of course, if used too often it becomes snidey. If you are looking at P/A as a way of scoring points- you are moving into bigot territory. Also, why has P/A been used in the first place? To counter an aggressive situation hoping it won’t get worse?   --- The fear of an all-out brawl?

(28Dec)
I don’t know, but in someways/times ~
I feel I’m working better than I have done in my life. It’s hard to explain-but I feel I have the tools for the job in hand
and I have the job for the (mental) tools that I posess.
It doesn’t seem to be one painting, they merge together ~ but one problem, which at the moment I am comfortably after.

Mohsen:
First you think
I am the only one in the world
Then you think there is a world inside me
Then at last you realise there is no me and no world
& call it one day.