INFLATION 1980

 yo!.. look back in wonder..innit!

                         

here in palookaville..

we think the mortgage rate @6% is high..

but when this photo was taken..

the rate was 15.5%..

NOT JUST THE JOB WALTER

sitting here with my boss standing next to me..

I was 28..

It was a good job..

graphics and photography..

we all had a 16% raise in 1979..

and 21% raise in 1980..

then the job was made redundant..

me out first..

then the boss..

then the whole drawing office..

I moved house..

into the centre of the city..

sold the car..

we brewed all our own beer..

switched off the hot water and the heating..

I had to sell all my marvel comics..

for £500  that's £2,743.18 pounds today..

that's $3453.

to pay the mortgage arrears..

SOCIAL SECURITY

there was help with mortgage interest payments back then..

and grants for students as well..

I went back to college..

qualified as a teacher..

mortgage rates went down..

eventually..

but 10.5% was still normal..

our actual mortgage amount was for £14,000..

the new house had cost us £23,000 in 1980..

our previous house we bought for £11,500..

in 1978..

we sold it for £21,000+..

in 1980..

THE VALUE OF PAPER MONEY

people here in palookaville..

talk of getting on the housing ladder..

they think houses only go up in value..

but the truth is..

it's the money that goes down in value..

it's all just inflation really..

MIGHTY MARVEL MELT UP

I wonder what my marvel comics are worth now..

the first 36 spideys..

(all the Steve ditkos)

first 20 x-men..

first 24 Conan the barbarian..

many more..

IN THE SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT

 

I used to have a big idea..

for a painting..

or for a series of paintings..

THE MAN IN THE CRIME MASTER'S MASK

was a series of three large canvases..

back in 1975..

I was still influenced by steve ditko..

and stan lee..

it was about shadows..

ventian blind shadows..

at first..

then the 3rd in the series..

was 

THE MOUNTAINS OF MOURNE

this was the shadow..

of the gun..

a child's painting on a bedroom wall..

of the mountains of mourne..

with the moonlight coming in through the window..

causing the shadow of the window frames..

to make a cross..

which falls over the child's art..

like it was the cross hairs..

in a sniper scope..

the series' were always of three paintings..

PARADISE LOST

this was about..

the loss of youth and dreams..

lost illusions..

it started with..

PUTTING ON DE STIJL

a cliff richard image..

with a drawing of an american car..

from a 'how to draw' book..

and a huge pencil drawing the car..

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

was a tarpaulin..

ripped in half..

held together by criss-crossed rope..

the universe visible through the tear..

a figure sits on a park bench to one side..

the dawn is coming up over Belfast lough..

this was a dawn after an acid trip..

a coming of age sort of thing..

anyway..

POINT PANIC

was the third in that series..

and had the silver surfer..

with his board..

and my old school tie..

a tv screen..

with the face of an aircraft carrier guy..

peering out at you..

a little boy in a camel coat..

is partly visible through another tarpaulin..

with cut outs..

I USED TO THINK BIG

but now not so much..

now I work smaller..

but on many more canvases at once..

I never know what they will become when I start them..

but they always do..

become, that is..

FIGURES IN A SOUK

did not start out as an idea..

there was no plan..

I did no research..

for images to juxtapose..

I just started splashing paint on canvas..

the large blue brush strokes just happen..

out of the blue..

nobody saw the tiger coming..

until it was already there..

BRING BACK MY GLEN-BOTT TO ME

yo!.. old school tie... innit!

1965 

Lonnie was the kingpin
Back in nineteen sixty-five
I was singing this song
When Lonnie came alive

 

Bring back the Boston Rag
Tell all your buddies
That it ain't no drag
Bring back the Boston Rag

 

 

 

I was 13 years old..

 

I was captain america..

 

collecting marvel comics..

 

discovered steve ditko and stan and jack..

 

caught 33 brown trout in the river in carrick-on-suir..

 

 

THE WAY WE WERE

 

 The Mary Quant designed Mini Skirt appears in London..

and will be the fashion statement of the Sixties 

One of most popular films "Sound of Music" released

The Beatles Release The Movie and Album Help!

The Beatles Play Live Concert Shea Stadium

The Grateful Dead with Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia..

play their first concert, in San Francisco 

 

        

Cost of Living 1965

Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.59%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 5.0%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 969
Average Cost of new house $13,600.00
Average Income per year $6,450.00
Gas per Gallon 31 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,650.00
Loaf of bread 21 cents
Average Rent per month $118,00
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling
Average House Price 3,660
Gallon of Petrol 5 shillings or 26 new pence
E-type Jaguar 1867

BRUIN WAS SPIDEY : DOCILE WAS IRON MAN

always a sucker for a story..

I am a dustbin..

I take it all in..

 

margaret glen-bott..

 

was the name of our school..

 

 

   oil on canvas 60 x 96 inches 1980

rejected for john moores painting prize exhibition

as you can see..

it's all about coming of age..

this is not the only time I have used this ditko figure..

I SAW THE FIGURE FIVE IN GOLD

 

 

 

there is a gallery here 

COMING UP

watch with mother..

madonna de milo..

quatrefoyle's are us..