STUDIO INTERNATIONAL

yo!.. painting is dead.. innit!

I read in 1969..

in a magazine called..

studio international..

that painting was dead..

it was a set back..

for sure..

I was 17..

and painting was what I was doing..

at the latest John Moores painting prize..

there had been a lot of blank canvases..

it was disappointing..

because I love to see paintings..

I like to look close up..

to see the marks..

the surface of the canvas..

I love the colours..

I really do enjoy looking at paintings..

In our local gallery of contemporary art..

there are very rarely any paintings shown..

the folks there prefer to show 'art'

international contemporary art..

it's a thing..

somewhere along the way..

all these clever folks..

have hijacked art for themselves..

and their friends..

and now they call all the shots..

so to go see paintings..

it's not so easy these days..

it's a good thing that  painting is dead..

because damian hirst said that..

death is the greatest idea in art..

death is the big idea..

and Damien thinks big..

the bigger the better..

me..

I'll just keep on painting..

It's what I do..

A lot of my favourite painters..

are dead also..

I still speak with them..

it's what we do when we paint..

painting is a dialogue..

If you see me talking with mark here..

you are here with us..

 in the souk..

www.figuresinasouk.com

WALKING IN THE SOUK

 yo!.. time a thief.. innit!

figures glimpsed..

passing by..

hanging out..

coming together..

in a dance..

some kind of jive..

 some sort of beat..

can you imagine..

the morning light..

the heat of the night..

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

TRAVEL IN HOPE

 yo!.. raining in ma heart... innit!

HOPE 

here in palookaville..

we are sitting in out of the rain..

and it feels good to me..

we had a lot of sunny days..

but now the rain feels fresh..

and a change is..

as good as a rest..

innit..?