THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 26 : Fun

 all the fun of the fair

the artist is having fun..

he is painting them nine at once..

it's all speed. gesture. movement..

and colour of course..

lots of it,,

he's throwing it everywhere..

RIDERS ON A STORM

it's a storm alright..

impressionism meets futurism..

at the speed of light..

Terry Frost had said to Alan..

'paint whilst not looking'..

in other words..

don't think about it..

just do it..

and do it fast..

it's all too easy for him..

he fails to realise..

this is him..

this is who he is..

unplanned, thoughtless, hasty..

wild, abandoned, happy..

because the night..

once you edit out the noise..

it's a dance..

a ballet..

a nocturne..

a symphony of colour..

Whistler would have approved..

https://www.saatchiart.com/en-gb/all?query=Charles%20Stuart%20fairground

SEE THE VIDEO ART ON UTUBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNa_ElSeOg4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw2tEeMnKqs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCiB9Huk3xg

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 21 :A Picture Disc

 11 August 1979 - 29 September 1979

our artist has his first one man show..

he's come up with a concept album..

of course he has..

he has written a stream of consciousness piece..

(rant)..

THE REBEL

he is writing this at home in his new wimpy home..

in the burbs..

he is not amused..

art school has disappeared in the rear view mirror..

and he has a job..

although it is a graphics job..

and he gets to take photos and design stuff..

this is not his dream..

he is at heart an attic man..

so he paints in joe's garage..

he is a nice boy..

"he used to cut the grass"..

PARADISE LOST

he paints about the dreams of youth..

and how each generation sees it's rebellions dissolve..

it's all in the pictures..

click on the images for full size readability..

he includes quotes form books he likes..

and poems he has written

his friends are invited to write stuff..

an artist's dream come true..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 17 : A BOOMER'S PAINTING

yo!

here we are in the artist's studio..

what a mess..

well it's a grey January day..

and the studio is cold and unused..

THE LANDSCAPE THAT WAS

this canvas was started in 1984..

and was part of a series about Idealised Landscape..

an American USAAF decal from WWII..

with a quatrefoil in the centre of the star..

a promised land..

this image was his thing for a while..

this was the first one in 1985..

a nice dove of peace vibe happening here..

Lavender Mist..

probably the artist's favourite..

Jackson would have approved..

military vibe here..

you may notice how the colours of the rectangles..

either side of the star are different from each other..

the idea was mood and balance..

a balance of power..

A BALANCE THAT WAS

so 70 years of Pax Americana..

gone like snow on the water..

next time on..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

painting over paradise..

the fool on the hill..

the future that was..

LOS ANGELES

 yo!.. funny ole life.. innit?

this space is  for the painting..

that is missing from this post..

because the pic of it is in another town..

on another mac..

you would be forgiven for expecting it..

to be in the cloud..

it being an angel an all..

but then..

this is palookaville..

come back again..

in a while..

evva boddy nose..

I am the author of the great series of paintings called..

figures in a souk..

usually it's folks..

standin around talking or shoppin..

or just chillin out..

together or apart..

in a souk..

 BUT THEN

every now and again..

a funny figure appears..

it looks like a dude with a back pack..

but what if it is really..

a dude with wings..

NOBODY EXPECTS

to see angels..

in a modern painting..

any artist would want..

not to be seen..

anywhere near anything angelic..

it's just not modern..

ISN'T MODERNISM DEAD

I thought it was all over..

so last century..

but everywhere you go..

you get people using the word modern..

to describe stuff..

especially houses..

as modern..

even though they are not..

they can be 'new' or 'contemporary'..

but unless they are built in the modern style...

you know..

cantilevers an stuff..

concrete an glass etc.

they ain't modern..

lavatory or not..

ANYWAY

I have this painting..

standing in my studio..

with a bunch of cistine chapel types..

hanging out in the souk..

maybe..

watching folk..

keeping a beady..

out for whatevva..

I expect that..

sooner or later..

the arts council will show up..

in a taxi..

with a large eraser..

to rub out the offending angel..

and return the painting to..

an acceptable..

 secular state..

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH ACQUISITION

it would be nice..

if the painting..

be allowed..

to hang out in spain..

with valasqueth..

in the prado..

but more likely it will go into a skip..

CARY GRANT AND JEAN ARTHUR

it may be that this dude is no angel..

but a terrorist with a backpack..

there seems to be a lot of that about..

terrorism and backpacks..

dudes from hell..

expecting heaven..

how likely is that..

anyway..

there maybe a lot of dudes with backpacks these days..

but..

ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS

it occurs to me now..

as I write this..

that looking at the colours here..

and the way the figures are realised..

that maybe all..

or at least most of the figures here..

are angels..

standing around like actors..

in  

CITY OF ANGELS

it's a movie I like..

nicolas cage and meg Ryan..

what's not to like..

anyway..

SQUARE BUT MODERN

the yellow square..

is obviously the sun..

what else could it be..

figuresinasouk.com

city of angels

onlyangelshavewings

WAR IS PEACE

 

I read this book..

The Unfinished War: 

Vietnam and the American Conscience

Walter H.. Capps

Beacon Press, 1982

Veterans of the war..

it said..

were damaged further by the lack of a proper welcome home..

and appreciation for their service..

and that the folks at home did not want to talk about the war..

and sought to sweep it under the carpet..

at the time of writing no memorial..

had been agreed upon..

and as such..

I was attempting to respond to this using..

oil paint on canvas..

however..

there is now and has been for many long years..

a truly great monument in place..

The black granite wall of names is one of the most familiar media images associated with the war, and after three decades the memorial remains one of the nation's most visited monuments. While the memorial has enjoyed broad acceptance by the American public, its origins were both humble and contentious. A grassroots effort launched by veterans with no funds, the project was completed in three and a half years. But an emotional debate about aesthetics and the interpretation of heroism, patriotism and history nearly doomed the project.

anyway..

I steamed ahead in the studio..

with my idea for a series of paintings like the one above..

There were to be 10 in all..

and each one was meant to represent a mood or state..

of american love or hate or grace..

remember pearl harbour..

and the american resolve and response..

these paintings are not political but emotional..

emotional states of a nation..

anyway..

STATES OF GRACE

AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

obviously..

none of this got anywhere..

per usual..

still I played around with the idea..

for some time..

and also..

this url

hope you got this far..

and liked the story..

it occurs to me that all the technology on display..

in the photo above..

was not available in 1982..

and will soon be superseded by newer stuff..

technology becomes obsolete so fast..

in 40 more years..

these devices may not exist or be so changed as to make these items..

laughable..

the painting though..

will have aged hardly at all..

and the idea will still resonate..

and lastly this url

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

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW IS A TREE

 sharing this view with you..

 15. 29. gmt.. today..

listening to carrickfergus..

soon the hibiscus will be in bloom..

 

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