AN EARTHQUAKE IN THE SOUK

 yo!.. after shock.. innit!

 

we are just as nothing..

here in this world..

everything can just fall apart..

in an instant..

in our sleep..

 an earthquake in the souk..

or a river runs through it..

and all we can do..

here in palookaville

 is watch on tv..

in horror and dread..

earthquakes and floods..

rubble and dust..

and lots of local people..

searching..

bereft..

The Artist In His Studio

sitting here in my studio.. 

19th may 2012.. 

you can't see me because I am.. 

taking this picture.. 

 shooting this shot..

 

LIKE MONET

 

 sitting in his garden.. 

 in giverney.. while 20 miles away.. 

 the guns are smashing the.. 

trenches to mud.. 

he can't feel a thing.. 

 here in palookaville.. 

 the war in ukrain is further away.. 

and we can still sit here in peace.. 

for now anyway.. 

 

 THE GLASS IS FALLING HOUR BY HOUR 

the glass will fall forever.. 

but if you break the bloody glass.. 

you won't hold up the weather.. 

 

 

 

so here is this blog..

 

being written..

 

the large canvas is from..

 

1994

 

you can live a long time in hollywood..

 

and never see the part they put in movies..

WE ARE ALONE ALL TOGETHER

all together..

we are alone..

DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS

 

 

there is a painting..

 

in nottingham castle..

 

by george moreland..

 

it used to have the title..

 

'the artist in his studio, his man gibbs frying up'.. 

they have shortened it now..

it was always a favourite of mine..

 

 

 

IN COMMON BUT ALONE

 

 

Chingachgook became once more the object of the common attention. 

He had not yet spoken, and something consolatory and instructive was expected from so renowned a chief on an occasion of such interest...

"Why do my brothers mourn?" he said, regarding the dark race of dejected warriors by whom he was environed; "why do my daughters weep? that a young man has gone to the happy hunting-grounds; that a chief has filled his time with honor? 

He was good; he was dutiful; he was brave. 

Who can deny it? 

The Manitou had need of such a warrior, and He has called him away. 

As for me, the son and the father of Uncas, 

I am a blazed pine, in a clearing of the pale faces. 

My race has gone from the shores of the salt lake and the hills of the Delawares. 

But who can say that the serpent of his tribe has forgotten his wisdom? I am alone--"

"No, no," cried Hawkeye, who had been gazing with a yearning look at the rigid features of his friend, with something like his own self-command, but whose philosophy could endure no longer; "no, Sagamore, not alone. 

The gifts of our colors may be different, but God has so placed us as to journey in the same path. I have no kin, and I may also say, like you, no people. He was your son, and a red-skin by nature; and it may be that your blood was nearer--but, if ever I forget the lad who has so often fou't at my side in war, and slept at my side in peace, may He who made us all, whatever may be our color or our gifts, forget me!

 The boy has left us for a time; but, Sagamore, you are not alone."

Chingachgook grasped the hand that, in the warmth of feeling, the scout had stretched across the fresh earth, and in an attitude of friendship these two sturdy and intrepid woodsmen bowed their heads together, while scalding tears fell to their feet, watering the grave of Uncas like drops of falling rain.

In the midst of the awful stillness with which such a burst of feeling, coming as it did, from the two most renowned warriors of that region, was received, Tamenund lifted his voice to disperse the multitude.

"It is enough," he said.

 "Go, children of the Lenape, 

the anger of the Manitou is not done. 

Why should Tamenund stay? 

The pale faces are masters of the earth, 

and the time of the red men has not yet come again. 

My day has been too long. 

In the morning I saw the sons of Unamis happy and strong; 

and yet, 

before the night has come, 

have I lived to see the last warrior of the wise race of the Mohicans."

 

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Native-american-Figure/31203/1246684/view

 

IN VINCENT'S CHAIR

so we beat on..

boats against the current..

borne back ceaselessly..

into the past.. 

figuresinasouk.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A MAGIC CARPET

 yo!.. Persian Rug.. innit!

I was in art class..

one day in 1970..

and I had this really great black brush stroke..

on this otherwise poor..

painting that I was doing..

the lecturer commented upon how this mark was very strong..

and I was hooked..

over the years..

I developed a style that consisted of a mixture of..

soft focus and bold gesture..

and nowhere is this more evident than in the..

FIGURES IN A SOUK

now it should be realised that not all figures..

are people..

squares and circles etc..

are figures too..

so an abstract figuration can be realised..

These blue stripes above..

are what lead to the more human figures..

and for a while they were, together with the square..

all that was there..

some time later..

I started to develop the figures..

and they became more 'real'

it's interesting to me..

that I am no happier with the new figures than the old..

one is not 'better' than the other..

it just happens when I paint..

I see them emerge..

and try not to cramp their style..

ON MY PERSIAN RUG

is a song

hope you like it..

because this is all one souk..

knowledge is finite..

imagination is infinite..

and all of life is in the souk..

it's a magic carpet ride..

figuresinasouk.com

PAINTING IN THE SOUK

yo!.. knowin when ta stop... innit! 

This is the very first painting in the series.

Virgin canvas.. 

I work with oil paint directly onto the canvas and mixed there upon..

The paint is thinned and spread around without concious thought. 

There was no 'Figures In A souk' series at this point.. 

Just a very happy artist with a few blank canvases and lots of time and oil paint.

 What you see here is genesis..

of a series which is still running 8 years later. 

The work has continued to develop..

some of the orinial canvases have bee worked upon..

sometimes for the better and sometimes not..

This canvas is as it was on the first day..

It is fresh and full of innocence and hope.

 It was a sunny day in the souk.. 

I hope you will see this and feel as happy as I felt painting it.

Influenced by Rothko, Turner and Rembrandt.. 

and Richard Parkes Bonnington.

'Figures in a Souk' is a series of experimental oil paintings.

 

I start out only to paint..

 

The figures emerge from the canvas as the process develops.

 

I usually like to paint over existing works of mine..

as that provides a unique starting point and pre-existing texture..

 

The Souk is always... imagined..

always experimental..

www.figuresinasouk.com

THE JOURNEY TO THE SOUL OF THE SOUK

 imagined Morocco..

imagined light..

imagined people..

imagine what's going on.. 

imagine the rage..

imagine the bargains.. 

imagine the guile..

imagine the plans..

the plots..

the gains and the losses..

the employed..

and the bosses..

the good and the bad..

old and the young..

winners and losers..

religions and stuff..

everything for sale..

and where..

anything goes..

seek and you'll find..

is it all in the mind..

the pleasure..

and the pain..

have you seen the soul babe..

hiding in the shadows..

figuresinasouk.com   

JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF THE SOUK

at first I thought it was washday..

in Marrakesh..

later I would change my mind..

they call this one the red door..

this one they just call..

the heart..

figuresinasouk.com                                                              

 

 

 

ALWAYS FIGURES FOR ME

 

yo!.. from a heart... innit!

become yourself..

graham Sutherland said that..

here in the souk..

the sun is heading home..

and still..

the figures come..

it's all a light show really..

reflect and wonder..

www.figuresinasouk.com

THREE RED PAINTINGS

most of the time..

 

I am looking..

reflecting and leaving well alone..

 

If a painting sits around long enough..

it will be painted over..

 

or altered,changed..

usually for the better..

 

but no guarantees..

 

these three have all been around the block a few times..

I am happy with them now..

 

for now..

 

 

 

here is a closer view of one..

 

click on any picture for a larger view..

 

 

 

 

www.figuresinasouk.com 

SIX OF THE BEST

this maybe your only chance to see these..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 'Figures in a Souk' is a series of experimental oil paintings. I start out only to paint . The figures emerge from the canvas as the process develops. I usually like to paint over existing works of mine as that provides a unique starting point and existing textures and gestures. The Souk is an imagined interior with filtered light. You bring your own imagination to the work. What you see is determined by what you know, how you feel, what you believe.

figuresinasouk.com

FIGURES IN A SOUK 2

yo!.. rembrandt, turner, rothko... innit!





where the square came from..

I cannot say..

nor were the blue stripes figures..

until they just were..

this is the earliest example of the style..

it has all developed from here..

the souk idea is from the first one I showed you last time..

the figures just emerged..



this is how you paint..

by not looking..

until you look back..




this is the first version of the figures..

see what I mean..

got to be casablanca..

got painted over though..

more than once..

figuresinasouk.com

FIGURES IN A SOUK

yo!.. mature style... innit!


how long did it take you to paint this picture?


A LIFETIME OF LEARNING


the first 'figures in a souk' was painted in 2014..





they just evolved out of a session of starts..

you know nine blank canvases..

splash on the colours..

sit back and see what you have..

at first you think they are great..

so you leave them alone..

then later you get tired of most..

if not all of them..

so you go at them again..




I used to paint large canvases..

60 inches high x 96 inches wide..

now I prefer to paint small..

whereas before it was all about images..

now it's all about painting..

the big brush is bigger..

the smaller the canvas..

it's about marks..

and..

gesture..

and..

surface..

and..

colour..

so nine red ones..

six yellow ones..

later colour greys..

so six years of 'figures in a souk'..

sixty six years to paint this painting..

figuresinasouk.com