Greek Islands, 78

A bunch of watercolours, produced whilst bumming round the islands. We lasted about three months on about £3oo.
Ive put this out to coincide with chronological changes to the Tree House Blog.

Quiet Bay at Paros.

Naxos.

Leper caves at Matala

Brookvale at Christmas

I used one of these images as a Christmas card (cant remember which) a few years ago. I played about with it on coral draw as I remember, then printed them out.

Since painting a copy of Kandinsky's Lake with it's Northern lights for my son's living room, I've thought about magnifying or illuminating the background on this very British setting, maybe more the size of a mantle piece rather than something to fit onto a mantle piece.

I need to play with this with an art program me - bring out the colours in the background. Lighten the dark bits.
Then I need to transmogrify (what does this mean?) all three into a composition.

to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely;transform.

I didn't realize I was putting such a strong bend onto it. Mind, the strange aspect does appeal to me.

40 years!

24-1-16

Note to Nick and Ruth,

Nick, we were self formed when we left - we knew where we were going, very strong minded individuals.
As I write this on the day of a Tory victory, what will happen to out N.H.S? - time to sell your house when cancer creeps in.
But the family thing is slightly surprising / slightly overwhelming. There but for fortune and we are all here.

With a life behind us that doesn't ask "what happened to those twenty odd years?"
Hash brownies and haven't we grown?

The last minute dash for the train must have been inevitable to both parties

I would like a photo of each painting - it secures a resting place for my identity.

I like to tell a yarn - maybe its a defence mechanism, maybe its the same as writing a paper, or performing a tune or perhaps even painting.

Aging and change, but the same essence - there was no doubting who you both were, for me within a second! In my immediate impression of you, you were both how I wanted and indeed expected you to be. When we went our separate ways, at least if our futures weren't totally mapped out, we were all on a mission.
They were vivid character forming times - an era of "uncles" or indeed "aunts" who left us slogans and memories.

Some people have said "where have you been?"
I know where you've been and I like it. I'm proud of who you are.

p.s This was written last Autumn and published yesterday!

Tree House Refurbished

TREEHOUSEREfURBISHED

I like the fact that my blogs in general are a kind of maze, they overlap and sometimes there are two pages of the same ilk only slightly different.

But I feel I need to get some kind of chronological grip on things and so have decided to convert my first blog space into simply one that responds to the passing of years, with added extracts and links.

There are spaces in my past!

(also on my Art3000 site)

I also aim to set up a new blog site entitled:

OVER-FLOW-BLOG

with added flooding

Dance Myself to Shadows

Dance myself to shadows

for Jack Bruce Jan 11 2016

Idiot Dancer, Hyde Park C.1968

Cream – Dance The Night Away Lyrics

Gonna build myself a castle
High up in the clouds.
There'll be skies outside my window;
Lose these streets and crowds.
Dance the night away.

Will find myself an ocean,
Sail into the blue,
Live with golden swordfish,
Forget the time of you.
Dance the night away.

Dance myself to nothing.
Vanish from this place.
Gonna turn myself to shadow
So I can't see your face.
Dance the night away.
Songwriters: WILKINS, WAYNE / BROWN, ALEX


I haven't worked out how to make links work efficiently yet - they need highlighting then a right click. (PAIN IN THE ARSE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFKsyZrPqfYv

Kind of like a
DANCE ZONE.

--- so, not my own words, but words I find myself inhabiting.

The energy and pervasiveness of dance.It's not just about dance steps - in fact, it's not about steps at all.
It's about inhabiting the music,
about being the music * * *
& it's wonderful!
Dance enables you to find yourself and loose yourself at the same time.

Lets Dance: David Bowie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4d7Wp9kKjA

The Dance floors of Knossos (at an early stage) for one of the twelve "chapters" of Achilles Shield.

DANCE,DANCE,DANCE. Steve Miller.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qp6GU-aUjk

It's not dancing to show like John Travolta,
  Not a performance
Although, why not add a bit of an ego trip?

I suppose it's a bit of a process
  A letting off steam -an introversion for no specific reason
    And also an expression
      Without judgement (in its purest form)
And after all, it is healthy, both mentally and physically.

Although, idiot dancing is pushing the boat out a little bit far maybe.


Of course, there is also the interactive element
  unison between partners
   cohesion and intuitive understanding.

Or the group phenomena (forgetting line dance)
A number of people thinking as one, almost like a choir.


Moondance: Van Morrison. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lFxGBB4UGU



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)

The two lost shows

The Two Lost Shows

Not lost as in "gone" but in that they both went out on a cusp.
Almost as final statements as I was just finishing doing mural projects with infants, my son had arrived at a more self reliant age & I was beginning to feel that just pumping out paintings without an awful lot of contemporary contact was beginning to lead to progressive implosion - a major factor in my taking on an M.A. course.

Also (of course) I had accumulated a large pile of work that I hadn't seemed to have done anything with. (Never mind all the stuff that came out of the four year stay in Istanbul)

http://whitemoustachestreet.blogspot.co.uk/

(highlight and right click)

On hindsight I feel they weren't particularly strong shows, but in the same breath, they weren't too bad.
In a way, they were let down by the inclusion of some weaker material, which maybe detracted from, rather than informed the general gist of the shows.

I feel that the M.A.course * coming from a completely different angle of academia from where i had been * did help to group themes, whys, wherefores and put me into a more helpful position as to where I was going to pitch, comment and to who.
Or, indeed, identify what was being created "just for the hell of it"

It was a sign of those times (1999) slightly akin to what was going down with "Art & Language in the early 70's. 
This time; what are we going to do with Po Mo?
Interestingly, there seems to be more of a trend toward "suck it and see" work out why - after an experimental stab at present. A complete about turn for many to claim to be in the know.

"Stories"

An exhibition of painting Nuneaton Museum and art gallery. May 1998.

The story of the poster and title.
As represented in the poster, I wanted to name the show 
"You caught me floating in my sleep last night"
This was considered too risque and seeing it to be a kind of local family location, I succumbed and renamed it, feeling that "stories" fitted the general theme.
Since then, the number of shows with the same title that I have passed has astounded me!

Guardian kite over a Himalayan village in H.P.

The curator at the museum at the time was Gina Quant and a pleasure to work with. There was a handy man there name of Alf or similar with whom I could have worked without friction for a considerable period of time.
He got the poster printed for me, unfortunately he took it on himself to insert an extra "stories" onto the page. He was suck a nice bloke I couldn't say anything!

Ganesh at home, Karnataka.

Nuneaton Museum is about the prettiest place I could imagine to hold an opening in. A lovely building situated in the middle of a park with running water.

There had been a drought for about 6 weeks and the start date was in the beginning of May. I rubbed my hands in anticipation.

The morning of the big day woke me with intense rainfall - a deluge in fact! On turning on the radio, I was informed of five separate bomb scares centered on roads in that general ares. You could say that that was a bit yin!

It was a quiet opening, but I do remember the event and the conversations with friends that had turned up. (& they had to be friends to do that!)

A good venue, especially if all you wanted to do was turn people on - reinforce existing mind sets or maybe even slightly change them.

-But not being local to that area - not a lot of reason to show there. Although, I would if it was handed to me on a plate, maybe with a few quids worth of expenses.

Dogbayasit. N.E. Turkey, very close to Iran,

Carousel Left Panel

Middle Panel.
And the seasons they go round and round and the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on a carousel of time.
Emerging as an idea in sketches with the birth of my son Aydin.

Carousel, right panel.

" Lucky"

The show kind of moved onto the Queens Hall in Narberth, West Wales.
In Nuneaton, it basically hung around the Carousel and other stuff I had produced in Istanbul, then (embellished). Also stuff from a trip to India.

"Johnny Eidetic"

In Narberth art Centre at the end of 1999

The gorge at Hasankeyf, S.E. Turkey

Rustic scene, with Russian undertones

A bat Cave in N. Thailand, near Chang Mai.

Spring Peacock, on the other side of a pond in a wood in Devon.

The Sun & Gravity (after Prof. Julian Pefanis)

The dance floor at Knossos

 (The painting) remains as still juggled back and forth - but I am confident in a kind of doubtful way.

I see it almost as three dimensional chess
A grid work of activities with nooks and crannies that disappear backward also containing activity.

http://www.art-3000.com/picture/?iid=71353

I realise that it follows on from a painting made in the mid eighties that was stolen from me by an aggressive lawyer in Cardiff, who took it to compensate for money owed to him by a friend of mine.
I was just about to give it to a "good home" belonging to Gill & Piers Morgan in Canton.
It was entitled "big day out" and comprised mainly of people blowing musical instruments from various openings and balconies in a kind of large public building.

(in this painting) there are a few concurrent themes and stories.

There are the onlookers - situated in various vantage points. "The Muppets" springs to mind with the old fogies discussing acts from a balcony.

There are the TWO acrobats - performing in the middle of things, egging things on as it were.



There are the wallflower men, semi dancing under the "arches" in the background.

(to come)

And the two lines of dancers that line up to make contact. This can happen within the whole time frame of lining up to actually making contact.

The "jiving can happen at both ends of the lines and the lining up and partner assessment in the middle on both sides of the acrobats. In fact, to each end it can get more and more anarchistic.



Knossos is a Tapestry.
Over the years I have been collecting both dancers and audience.
Basically from a linear standpoint, albeit with a touch of tone thrown in.

On reflection this canvas has been constructed hanging next to a complex Rajasthani embroidered rug /tapestry.
Without realizing, it has influenced me tremendously.
Its eidetic nature
and mosaic formation of five basic colours with added highlights. Reflecting hot, dry lands in earth colours. Its geometric constructed composition binding it together.
I have decided to use these very same colours in the same kind of intermixed pattern defined only by light and dark tonal areas.

The lost painting, well, actually stolen in Cardiff. Originally painted for the Brekon Jazz Festival, back in the 80's



Assassins, Guardians & Armageddon

Its almost like the wind up game being played has Armageddon as in it's final sight. This is not a definitive post, I'm trying to find out where I stand on these present Middle Eastern matters - where I stand on a platform that maybe isn't my own.



I was walking home with my dog, soaked in the pouring rain. I was kind of o.k. because I'd had a couple of cans & I was going home.
I passed what used to be a large Kindergarten & now is a Shiek place, obviously used communally, though not necessarily, particularly, religiously.
There was a space in the entrance that I decided needed a guardian. Maybe a large, six foot high and fairly wide relief in ebony effect with a sword and crouching (ready) in some way.

I got home, lit the fire, opened another can and banged out my guardian idea as soon as I could before it left me.
I finished it, sat back & thought "its not bad" & left it alone for a short while. On my return - I realised that it wasn't a guardian

that I had produced, it was an Asasin. 


20-11-15,
If I became radicalised, where would I want to hit? (Personalised) me personally.
or/
In my area, which are the best targets? (Because I know them)

http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/The_Creed

I wasn't sure how to spell it and looked it up in a dictionary with a couple of surprising results:
Assassin
One who undertakes to kill treacherously.
Fanatical sect of the Ismali Muslims at the time of the Crusades.
Founded by " The Old Man of the Mountains"
(Hasan-Ben-Sabbah)
[Arab. hashshashin, oblique pl. of hashshash - hashish addict]

Keeper, Defender, Protector,
Angel, Spirit watching over person or place.

So, I had another go.

Anyway 

- so the Western Alliance see themselves as the Guardians and Da'esh as the Assassins, is it? 

With the upcoming world stage being anything out side the Caliphate, or is it inside?

Armageddon

 PLACE WHERE THE KINGS OF THE EARTH

ARE TO BE GATHERED TOGETHER

FOR

"THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY"

(Rev.16;14-16)



The Temple

edifice dedicated to the service of God.

place in which God resides.

of the Tabernacle

curtained tent containing Ark of the Covenant

which served as a portable sanctuary of Jews

during their wandering in the wilderness.

of the testimony

evidence, statement made under oath or affirmation.



in heavens was opened.

15:6

And the seven angels came out of the temple

having the seven plagues,

affliction, esp. as divine punishment

pestilence.

clothed in pure and white linen,

and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

belt or cord worn round the waist

something that surrounds.

7Angels with Vials.

A great voice came out of the temple saying to the seven Angels "Go your ways & pour out the vials of the wrath of god upon the earth"

Which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. - into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.



The Lake & other stories.

My copy, unfortunately, the shine on top of the varnish doesn't do it any favours!

 

A month ago I decided to knock out a bunch of large pictures instead of painting on old cupboard doors and the like, and bought a large roll of canvas.
So far I have only painted three (sometimes life gets in the way) with two more are ready to go. I decided to paint mainly known themes, along the lines of straight through from start to finish stuff.

The 1st was from a water-colour of old Ankara that I produced in 1990 in Turkey. The aim was to get the vitality that I had achieved with thew/c - always a hard objective to achieve as it is easy to produce a stereotyped, predetermined and comparatively flat statement.

I feel I succeeded!

The next was a canvas that was bursting to come out and I felt it pointless to impose any restraint on myself.
Entitled " Autumn comes but once a year" and was informed by a doodle from a simple collage and the actual colours from said collage. Again, I suppose, pretty straight through, containing many of my own characters, emerging without pre-thought during that cider fueled doodle. - 
Followed by a copy of "The Lake" by Kandinsky.
I decided that it was my favourite picture when I started to learn to paint in '71 in Epsom.

One of the photos in art books, all vastly different!

 

I have a strong feeling that it still is.
I should have done this copy more than forty years ago.
I have made it as realistic as I could - from a small image in a small art book.

The next painting in which I aim to change a bit-there is an area of "flat people" I am unsure of - bottom left. I mean to replace them with something else - any suggestions?
I love Titles especially imaginative ones which dont neccessarily convey a specific message.

( although it will probably end up as a horse rider!)
Another Kandinsky, which will be "after" the original - " Glass Painting"
What does "after" mean?
I believe that what Ive seen as "after" means the "copying painter's" version of the original picture rather than a faithful representation.

The other canvas I am working on is a step further in The Achilles' Shield series, which I seem to think I've finished, then something bigger seems to crop up!

colour/rough layout for the on-going canvas

link to: http://umphries.blogspot.co.uk/p/achilles-shield.html

On looking at this blog, I realise it needs a fair bit of updating!
(see above statement)