THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 33 : Paradise Loss

the fruit machine stops..

it's 1984..

the artist is in his studio..

he has been using illustrations from children's books..

as the figures in his paintings..

the quatrefoil window..

has come into his work in a big way..

he has, he thinks..

created a logo for God..

well..

it is a pictogram anyway..

he has combined the quatrefoil with a landscape..

like a view out the window..

it's a simplified view of a promised land..

or are they blue remembers hills?.

anyway..

he sees it as a vision of paradise..

a promised landscape..

and what is religion if not a promise?

life after life..

the canvas is stained..

much thinned oil paint has seeped through..

from the other side..

yes this is a second chance work..

the failed reverse is hidden away..

and a new version has been produced..

the colours have bled through the canvas..

and survived..

to tell of a fresh start..

rather then a virgin birth..

LIFE IS A GAMBLE

this canvas is only the first panel of a triptych..

the idea is of the wheels of a gambling machine..

a 'one armed bandit'..

where gamblers try to pull hard enough on the 'arm'..

to win..

 or at least get their money back..

the idea of the three canvases..

is that each one has a version of the pictogram..

and that as they have settled down as a complete line..

all three in a row..

there should be a pay out..

a reward..

or a debt to pay..

https://www.saatchiart.com/en-gb/art/Painting-The-Fruit-Machine-Stops/31203/14105797/view

the staining of the canvas..

reminds us of Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis..

anyway lots of fun with paint..

almost no-one in the world has ever seen this painting..

it has never been exhibited..

maybe it's because it's no good..

or maybe it's just..

 bad luck..

maybe it's the wrong colours..

or maybe it's because..

there are too many notes..

but maybe it's just because..

nobody likes the odds..

the house rules..

consequences..

loss..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 31 : School

 bring back my glen-bott to me..

it's 1980..

and the artist has had his job made redundant..

instead of looking for a new one..

he paints this..

his latest idea..

of himself..

BRING BACK THE BOSTON RAG

another gentleman loser..

he longs to be back in school..

it's a girl thing..

maybe..

they say you can take the boy out of school..

but not the school out of the boy..

he is trapped in his past and all those moments..

LOST IN WONDER

that he'll never find again..

in the above painting..

it's 1965/66/67/68..

he is obsessed with American comic books..

and girls..

he is growing up with an alter ego..

a secret identity..

and there is no-one he can tell..

on the outside he is this milk toast..

panty waist..

on the inside there is..

    THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

in the picture above..

you can see the spidey sense half face half spidey mask..

this is the way he communicates..

with marvel comics character images..

the London art establishment won't ever geddit..

but why let facts get in the way of a good story..

he tells himself. they will all come around..

he hopes to at least get a job in the bull pen..

drawing comics..

he hasn't looked up yet and seen the..

sistine chapel ceiling..

but he will..

BORN BACK CEASELESSLY INTO THE PAST

he paints himself in his school uniform..

in the old school classroom..

with the old school radiators and glass panel doors..

a girl walks past without looking in..

she cannot see him..

the other boys look on..

and laugh..

but they are just boys..

they cannot see the developing artist..

they don't get that kind of education..

they are not one of us..

the believers..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 29 : Venice

 

first posted in 2020..

----------

this is a 'figures in a souk' painting.. 

 

but it relates to venice italy..

 

there is a movie also

  don't expect a plot..it's more a painting than a regular movie..

nobody expects..

 

 

click pic to enlarge..

 

 

www.figuresinasouk.com 

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 27 : The Opposite of Hammershoi

 Vermeer, Hammershoi, Morandi

they are popular with all ages..

the artist likes their stuff..

cool and minimal..

but the..

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

he has run away with the circus..

and the fun fair..

flashy American automobiles..

and brightly coloured boats..

oh yeah..  

and Cap..

it's all theatre really..

make up. make believe..,

out of the ordinary everyday life..

these are surreal things..

images from dreams..

fantasy and desire..

it's a holiday world..

a colour feast world..

still..

he's young yet..

who knows?

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 24 : Dream Marine

 THE FIGHTING TEMERAIRE

he has crazes..

one of them was boats..

he had toy boats in the bath..

plastic ones with rusted up engines..

in 1995 he goes on holiday to Portugal..

they have lots of brightly coloured..

wooden boats..

everyone knows that..

he goes mad..

charging around the Algarve..

looking for more..

too many are in the water..

or he has to photograph them from the bows..

what he needs is the stern..

the power's in the ass end Mick..

always was..

the best ones are beached..

and bleaching out..

high and dry..

left to rot..

on a trip to Tavira, a sleepy, salty,  town..

on a very hot afternoon..

whist on a river cruise he spies..

a pair of old wooden fishing boats..

sunk into the mud..

in the river estuary..

these two above..

 are a small oil on canvas..

he usually paints the boats in gouache..

TURNER

 painted many boats and marine images..

but no-one calls Turner..

a marine artist..

the artist in residence is just having fun.with one of his many Muses..

he does not see the sadness..

of the passing on of the beautiful wooden boats..

he only loves them..

https://charles-stuart.pixels.com/collections/boats+and+beach

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 19 : Live in the studio

 

1983 a hospital residency..

1984

right in the studio shot above

this one didn't make it..

it was the one on the left in the studio above..

Lavender Mist..

in dialogue with..

  Pollock and Abstract expressionism..

American Gothic

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..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 9

 IN PETEY LAWLOR'S WITH OBLONG WALSH

this is Billy Stuart

tonight we are in Petey Lawlor's bar..

in Carrick-on Suir..

County Tipp..

Petey is as always..

a great host..

it's 1970..

Billy Stuart is here with some old school friends including..

Oblong Walsh and Paddy Clancy(bar stool, at bar, in corner)..

Billy Stuart is singing 'Slievenamon'..

all join in the chorus..

not a dry eye in the house..

Neil is sitting with Maurice O' Dwyer..

a poet..

we are mostly all on Guiness..

The Artist..

is so proud of his heritage..

to have all this..

and no one is on the phone..

everybody is fully engaged..

it's a shared emotional event..

there will be no photos..

and for some no memory..

it is just a great moment in the life of the artist..

just 18 years old..

he has been coming to Carrick for holidays for his whole of his young life..

his brother Paul and he are treated like the Beatles..

(uncle) Paulie's is the local sweat shop on William st.

he sells sweats, fags, ice cream, bread, spuds..

sitting around outside the shop on sacks of potatoes..

Paulie winds up the local girls..

they flock to see the artist's older brother..

but the artist thinks it is all about him..

previously..

IN PAULIE'S WITH MIKEY DWYER

sitting on sacks of spuds..

eating ice cream with spoons from plastic bowls..

with lots of raspberry syrup..

Mikey Dwyer comes in to buy..

"three Sweet Alton and a settled loaf please Paulie"..

JERUSALEM TOMORROW

soon the artist in residence..

will travel to the north..

and stay with acid heads..

on a farm in Ballycastle, County Antrim..

THEARTIST IN RESIDENCE 8

 IN THE FOUR SEASONS CAFE WITH ARKLE AND ARKLE'S JOCKEY

Lew, Jay Gatsby, Andy, Flash, Nog and Miffy,.

it is 1968 still..

all the gang are seated on either side of one of the long red banquettes,

Painty has his sketch pad and colour sticks..

he likes to carry these around..

just in case..

he has found a cigarette lighter..

in the street..

a nice Ronson gas Varaflame Comet..

he can press this and light peoples cigarettes..

yes people could smoke in cafes than..

he does not smoke himself..

he just has the lighter..

cool huh?

as an ice breaker..

it works a treat and soon he has many friends and..

an Identity..

he's the lighter guy..

you know the arty dude..

always carries a sketch pad..

PROPS DEPARTMENT

everyone needs a prop..

or a crutch as Dali says..

soon all will get noticed..

Andy says 15 minutes..

more like..

a New York minute..

anyway off with the trousers..

and on with the dress..

MEANWHILE BACK IN 1968

Mark Rothko has not denied this four seasons his murals..

he is still alive and smoking in his studio..

 in New York..

he stares at his great works and wishes..

the artist in residence..

could be there with him..

to light up his cigarettes..

no more dead matchsticks filling the ashtray..

littering the floor..

MEANWHILE

back at the local four..

Lew has brought along a poetry book..

with Lawrence Ferlinghetti..

and sometime during eternity..

some guys show up..

YOU NEVER KNOW YOUR LUCK

anything can happen..

anyone may come..

and hang out here..

guys come in from the local prison..

just out and needing caffein..

everyone is equal..

all are welcome..

careful who you go home with..

LATER DOWN AT THE BRIT

the club scene is really good here in palookaville..

you can see the Ronettes..

Clyde Mc Phatter..

Taste..

some guy is giving the evil eye..

at painty and Flash..

he wants to beat them up..

he is about to throw a punch when he sees Graham..

go over and have a laugh with them..

The big lug gives them both a smile later..

"I didn't know you were friends of Grahams"..

all is good and..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

is still in one piece..

he will live to draw again..

so we beat on..

boats against the current..

P.S.

Arkle was the nick name of a girl..

a face about town..

 Jocky was her friend..

 always in tow..

in palookaville..

everything's a scream.. 

innit..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 7

 IN THE KARDOMAH WITH FLASH AND LIZ

it's 1968 and after school..

a young artist has made new friends..

since being taken up by Flash..

Liz and Julie and their crowd..

are putting the world to rights in the Kardomah cafe..

another up market joint..

Petey paint is happy here with these popular people..

he will hanker after these moments all of his life..

girls are noticing him..

and they like what they see..

this gang are all with him at the Saturday night parties...

that best of the year 11 experience..

he has a trendy haircut..

short but perfectly formed..

and new clothes..

some parallel trousers that..

Docile and Bruin helped him buy..

BTW

Docile was actually a rocker I believe..

he was a tough guy..

 meanwhile..

 back at the Kardomah..

Liz is radiant and painty is attracted to her..

a lot..