THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 4

 A young fella.. 18 just.. 

He is sitting on a park bench in Bangor, County Down.

It is dawn and the sun is rising on the rest of his life.

A rabbit sits nearby as they often will in the early hours.

It seems like the Garden of Eden.

or is it the Garden of Gethsemani?

He has been staying with friends ten years older than himself.

They are Hippy-ish veterans of early LSD and jaunts in Canada and Mexico.

He is really only here because his girl friend has gone home to parents in Jamaica for the summer holiday.

We view him from behind his back so that we can see the vista..

You might think of Casper David Friedrich.. 

"the celebrated German Romantic painter who is best known for Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer, or The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. Painted in 1818, it is an image that evokes the full repertoire of themes we associate with European Romanticism: loneliness, sublimity, and the transformative encounter with spiritualised nature. It shows an unknown man whose back is to the viewer – a Rückenfigur, or figure from behind – a posture that draws us into the landscape that is spread out before him. Poised upon a rocky precipice, the Wanderer gazes down into a chaotic landscape of tempestuous clouds – a sea of fog that is pierced by jagged rocks."

Our guy today is dressed in his Civil Defence greatcoat that he got fro the army surplus store. He has long hair and flared trousers because this is 1970.

He looks out on a fractured dawn skyline as if the world is coming apart at the seams. The painting is on a tarpaulin which is stretched across another canvas painted with the universe or the stars at night. The tarpaulin is coming apart and is held together only by string. The seam where the tarpaulin is stitched together dissects the cavas diagonally. Reinforcing the idea of stress. The young fella has had an interesting night and all his certainties have gone awry.

Whilst the events depicted happened overlooking Belfast loch we see instead a fractured 

Mountains of Mourne.

The Artist In Residence is coming of age.

His world has fallen apart and must be remade..

The painting is called 

'All You Need is love'

because love is all you need..

isn't it?

and because he and his friends sang that song from the trailer pulled along behind a tractor whilst on an adventure to collect and bring back turf for the fire at the farm near Ballycastle.

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 3

 Picture this..

A youngish man stands on a railway station platform. He is in Crewe. To get to Liverpool with his painting he must change at Derby and Crewe. This is a centre of the rail network even more than Derby.

Imagine him as if painted by Edward Hopper he is lit by slanting light just like in a Hopper painting. What is most striking about this person? Is it his hair? Is it his clothes? Is it his air of confidence? probably not.

The first thing you might notice about this figure is the eight ft wide by five ft high oil painting that he stands with on the railway platform. Is it wrapped up in brown paper? is it in a box? In a crate? 

No this oil painting is naked.. stark naked.

This is not a nude. This is 'Bring Back my Glen-Bott To Me' it is a large canvas divided by two diamond shapes. it has lots of paint marks strewn upon the whole area.. music actually or at least a rhythm. In the centre of the canvas and nearly as tall as the canvas is a figure.. It's a quote from Steve Ditko from the cover of Amazing Spiderman 27 'Bring Back My Goblin To Me'.

The Spidey figure has an old school uniform on.. sans blazer.. the face on the figure is the half Spidey face that he gets when his Spider sense is triggered. The other half of the face is the boy from the library.

Behind the figure is an open door from his old school classroom. A girl passes by out in the corridor.

Four school boys in full uniform point and laugh at the scene.

There is a lot of colour and the canvas is unmissable among the various travellers but no one seems to notice.

To get a painting to the John Moores Painting Prize submission agent in Liverpool you have to put in some effort.

Margaret Glen-Bott was a lady Gynaecologist and the school was named after her.

To travel in hope is a good thing.

Will he be successful and will he win the purchase prize?

Will this picture hang next to 'Peter getting Out of Nick's Pool'?

Find out the answers as time goes by..

In future editions of..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2

A boy sits in a public library in the village of Wollaton. (pronounced Woolaton) He is looking at the large books on Art. It is a nice day in summer and he has recently left school. He is nearly sixteen years old.

The library building is new and very Modern. Steel and glass like Mies van Der Rohe would have approved. He is lucky to have such a place to learn about painting and painters. He is gamine, wears plimsoles with no socks, is entirely lost as to where life could take him, has not one clue about jobs or careers. 

He turns the pages of the colourful books and remembers the names of the artists and the style of their paintings. He notes the ones he likes and the ones he does not like. Soon he will know all of the famous artists or at least all of the ones in the books in this library.

He comes here every day in the mornings. He has illusions that he will go to Further education College in September. He is not a swot. He looks only at the pictures and does not read the text.

At school he has taken Art at 'O' level and passed as well as English language. This is his academic base. he has decided that Art is the way. He imagines living a louche, bohemian life which appeals to him. He is painting in oils by now and he has a friend who takes an interest and soon he is mastering the medium and has ideas of his own. He has influences from the library books and is serious in his work.

That he should be able to paint and exhibit his work seems realistic, all things seem possible at sixteen.

A boy who has never yet heard of Mies van Der Rohe sits in a Modern library building and dreams the impossible dream. 

I see him as if in a Vermeer. A boy with a pearl earring, lacemaker, milk maid, a figure in a light filled interior. an innocent studying a book.

Is this the start of something big?

or is it..

The end of something small?

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

 A sixteen year old boy sits on a train. he's reading a book and has a painting wrapped in brown paper by his side. it's an old train. The carriage is tired and so is the boy and bored too, the book not withstanding.

The book is a famous book by a famous author with an even more famous painting on the paper cover. to be perfectly honest it is the cover that the boy has been drawn to and it is the reason he is reading it. It's a Penguin Modern Classic with the grey spine. This series of paper back books all have modern paintings on their covers.

The painting is by Salvador Dali and was, I am told, inspired by melting cheese. Peter perseveres with the text. he is determined to finish it and more to the point, be able to say he has read it. Mostly he has read marvel comics and also John Wyndham but he has a new friend who is working on his education.

So why is a sixteen year old boy reading Sartre in a tired railway carriage in Derby station? Why is there an oil painting size 40x30 inches sitting next to him? Why is he not in College or at work as it is a work day and not the weekend?

The facts are that he is dreamer and a fantasist. He dreams of being a famous artist and has entered his painting into the John Moores Painting prize the seventh in a series of biennial exhibitions intended to bring the latest in modern British painting to Liverpool.

Peter thinks his painting 'Self-Portrait With Blue Jacket' a quasi Cubist, Juan Gris-ish work will win the purchase prize of £5000 and that he will not have to work in an office anymore.

Is he wrong to dream? Is he ambitious? Is he brave or self-deluded? Is he any good? What chance does he stand at this point? What other chance does he have?

The last purchase prize went to David Hockney and now 'Peter' is getting out of Nick's.. in Liverpool.

On this day in 1969 this boy will travel a long way.. through the potteries, The Black Country, Runcorn and Widnes. He will see a crane lorry tipped up into a canal, the arse end of the Industrial Revolution, Holman Hunt's 'The Scape Goat, Alan Jones's 'Hermaphrodite' David Hockney's 'Peter getting Out Of Nick's Pool'.

He will deliver his painting to the receiving agents for the Walker Art Gallery. He will travel back home again undaunted but a little bored by Sartre and wondering what all the fuss was about. Will he win the big prize? Will he ever win anything ? Will he make it big? Will he make it pay? Will it all be worth it?

Find out more in the next instalment of..

THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

FIND YOUR BABE

 

uBABE is here for you..

but you have to find the babe yourself..

the babe is here..

only you have to look..

there are no adverts..

no paid influencers..

no shops..

no tik tok..

your eyes only..

https://ubabe-art.pixels.com/featured/ubabe-logo-ubabe-style.html

PROMISED LANDSCAPE

 

         everyone believes in a promised land..

innit!

whether in some afterlife..

or here on earth..

you know..

some place where the grass grows greener..

and all the folks can live in peace together..

and the lamb can lay down with the lion..

and not get ate..

trouble is..

here on earth..

here in palookaville..

we can't always agree..

on who really owns  it..

it's all about identity..

and recognition..

just so y'all stay cool..

evvaboddy gotta know who boss..

an not fall out..

an play nice..

heaven and hell..

itta carrot anna stick..

choose honey..

not vinegar..

choice is yours..

but then..

evva body know..

 this is palookaville..

PALETTE EARTH

 yo!.. dark clouds gatherin.. innit!

 I was painting today..

 

and saw my palette and thought about stuff..

 

you know..

 

gaza..

 

ukraine..

 

an it don't look good..

 

 

 

 

 

COVENANT

yo!.. xanadu.. innt!

 

 so this is the first time..

that this circle..

 

with the quatrefoil..

appears in any of my paintings..

 

I have painted it many times since..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so here is a link to some more of these works..

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..

KITCHEN SINK REDEMPTION

yo! .. portrait of god.. innit!

 

long ago when I was a young boy..

I came home one evening..

from playing out in the snow..

in the winter darkness..

I was freezing cold and soaking wet..

my knees were black..

from the dye of the cheap black jeans I had on..

my mother sat me on the draining board..

in the kitchen..

and bathed me in the kitchen sink..

I thought of this much later in my studio..

at the general hospital..

in 1984..

I thought of painting a portrait of god..

I was younger then..

anyway..

I look at this painting now..

(above is not the finished painting)

or at least a jpg of it..

and what I see now is not a deity..

but a pope..

a figure at the base of a crucifixion..

a screaming pope..

WHERE'S THE SCREAM ?

well look at the face of this teddy bear..

not all screams are alike..

this one is more like a smile..

or a look..

it's a sunburst..

a grind..

a smirk and a chaos..

it's not an ever fixed mark..

it 's a moveable feast..

a great notion..

it's an anomaly a gap in time..

warped space..

I had used all the colours that I had available..

to make this odd..

unnatural..

cosmic..

different..

it's an ecstacy in paint..

NOBODY EXPECTS A HANGING

this painting was bought by Leeds schools art loan scheme in 1986.. 

and was on my page at artUK..

but that scheme has closed and the painting..

is awaiting adoption by the Leeds city art collection..

this has been going on for some years now..

so I sit here in the sink..

in the cold kitchen..

here in palookaville..

and it's beginning to feel like..

an eternity..

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..

ROBOTS READ MY BLOG

 yo!.. come all ye bots.. innit!

here in palookaville..

viewing traffic has gone apeshit..

google stats show viewing spikes..

all over town..

I SMELL A BOT

when you get 82 visits from Japan in one day..

or 199 from singapore all in a day..

you know the bots are back..

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN

instead of teaching our children..

we are training machines how to say and write and draw..

dumb stuff..

they think that  now that we are all dumbed down..

by the clever politics and media..

we will need machines to entertain and inform us all..

with ever dumber stuff..

ANSWER THE F*CKING PHONE

the robots not answering the phones of the business and government..

are so crap that they are to be promoted..

just like in real life..

when the bots come to palookaville..

they at least get a laugh..

MY FINE ART

the bots are also..

all over my stuff on faa..

it started with beverley hills..

but is mostly new york..

with some from riyadh..

some 2500 - 5000 a day or more..

it makes it difficult..

to see the real visits..

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

If you think that what you are reading, watching or listening to..

is created by a machine..

just turn it off..

shut it down..

do not buy it..

it's..

your future..

your choice..

MISTER PITIFUL

yo!.. los angeles 3.. innit!

this image above is from psycho..

it's not marilyn..

it's Janet leigh..

apart from the appalling attack in the shower..

I have given her the warhol treatment..

to make her look like marilyn..

a soup can marilyn..

like pop art..

innit!

ICONOCLASM

the destruction of icons..

that famous and beautiful face..

has had some art worked on it..

I am sorry for my part in this now..

at the time I was only thinking of myself..

and my little screen print..

so here you can see..

my cunning plan..

one print with  the image on both sides and with cut out and folded flaps..

with the second print beneath it..

clever innit!

I SAW THIS AND THOUGHT OF YOU

andy had given her the soup can treatment..

pile em high and sell em cheap..

mass reproduction..

just like elvis or the mona lisa..

15 minutes of lame..

on reflection..

I feel now that this was..

a poor show..

in 'marilyn reframed'

we are introduced to a great person..

the greatest photographer's model of all time..

she ran the whole show..

she had all the guts they ever made..

possibly the most famous face in the world..

and a great actress..

I was ten when she died..

she was the most beautiful woman in the world..

you can spend a long time in Hollywood..

and never see the part they put in movies..

farewell my lovely..

LOS ANGELES TWO

yo!.. closer than that walter.. innit! 

So..

angelinos..

here is the missing image..

the painting with the angels..

EVERYBODY KNOWS THEY AIN'T NO SANITY CLAUSE

nobody believes in angels..

yet here they are..

not observed from life..

obviously..

but here in art..

they appear..

and reappear..

sometimes in the great paintings..

of the old masters..

(how long before that name is cancelled)

THE OLD MISTRESSES

are always the best..

and there were often angels..

with messages..

or immaculate..

concepts..

LATER THAT SAME DAY

get to the f*cking point..

I am dawdling here..

because I am awaiting..

divine inspiration..

ah that's better..

here at last..

better late than never..

evidence..

yes there are angels..

but only in art..

and only before modernism..

when you are painting..

things happen..

figures reveal themselves..

sometimes immediately..

sometimes they emerge gradually..

sometimes they appear darker..

sometimes they appear so cool..

no two angels appear the same..

sometimes they look just like ordinary joes..

like waiting for the walk sign..

walk..

 don't walk..

believe don't believe..

free will an all..

your choice..

figuresinasouk.com

city of angels

MONA LISA NOT

 

yo!.. diffrent strokes.. innit!

in the movies..

it's all about faces..

it's what created the big stars..

really big faces..

up there..

on the silver screen.

huge and..

in your face..

imagine the power..

of two huge beautiful faces..

kissing and canoodling..

and..

looking back at you..

and later..

talking to each other..

and again to you..

POWER'S IN THE FACE MICK

always was..

so

wtf is going on in this little epic..

three figures..

without a face between them..

Leonardo would not approve..

BEAUTY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

could be..

that these figures..

have beautiful faces..

but they have to keep them covered..

so as not to create desire..

incite lust..

THE OPPOSITE OF PORN

hide beauty and avoid lust..

like covering up..

the legs of a piano..

SOMETIME LATER

thing is..

the human face..

is the most erotic..

part of the body..

THE EYES HAVE IT

they attract..

they stare into yours as you climax..

you know how to climax don't you.

you just put your lips together..

and blow..

the eyes again..

the lips..

the tongue..

this is where the action starts..

when you are teen aged..

you want to see the hidden parts..

the opposite sex..

(not sure you're allowed say that anymore)

but you miss the obvious..

the really great sex..

is right in front of you..

face to face..

innit 

so  maybe mona..

is the racy image..

and all those..

faces in art..

and photography..

all portraits..

of profane love..

VANITY OF VANITIES

meanwhile

back at the souk..

it looks like three figures in burkas..

but really..

it's just a gesture..

or three strokes of the brush..

the big square at the back..

well that all started as a carpet..

a simplification of the souk..

into a single shape..

a magic carpet maybe..

a sacred symbol perhaps..

SO WE PAINT ON

backs against the current..

bourn back ceaselessly..

into the mystic..

HOW TO MURDER YOUR BRAND

 yo!.. brand new mess.. innit!

here in palookaville..

we know how to ruin a good thing..

here is a list..

1. change the logo..

2. capsize your boat..

with your brand name on the side..

leave it half submerged for months..

with all the world watching..

3. change the name..

4. change the boss..

uh oh..

loss of attention alert..

IF IN DOUBT

do nothing..

lie down in a darkened room..

take a vacation..

get a real job..

get out more..

take a walk..

talk to the people in the street..

don't mention gender..

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

ENTER THE SUN

 yo!.. night in armour shining.. innit!

 

 

I was sitting in the studio..

having an evening beer..

when I noticed the sun..

 had come out to play..

and was playing on one of my paintings..

 seems to be pretending..

 to be a horse..

or a knight like in chess..

maybe wants to play chess..

which would leave me struggling..

as chess and me don't mix..

I am not good at next moves..

I don't think several moves ahead..

I'm not a stepping stone kind of guy..

not a multi-tasker either.. 

it's one thing at a time for me..

so I'm drinking the beer..

and the sun is doing the painting..

not a bad job at all..

the sun paints with light..

but it does not last..

so I went and got the camera..

and here we are..

sharing a moment together..

me with a beer..

 

EX BORIS

 yo!.. load of old Boris innit!

here in palookaville..

the sheets have hit the fan..

boris scofield has walked out of parliament..

boris johnson has walked out on the dogs breakfast..

boris trump has walked out on democracy..

TIE ME KANGAROO COURT SPORT

tired of accusations of lack of new material..

they have decided to jump ship..

the public are devastated..

shocked and awed..

but mostly confused..

PEAK BORIS

is now a long time ago..

and holly wood..

and all the gang..

are crying shame..

AFTER THIS EPISODE OF SOAP

you will be confused..

and confounded..

but mostly bored..

the lines between entertainment..

and politics..

have blurred and morphed..

some say it is the new androids..

who will not stop chatting..

and making things up..

out of old cliches..

and blonde wigs..

WIGS ON THE GREEN

that's what we have..

here in palookaville..

home of the happy viewers..

THESE BORIS ARE MADE FOR WALKING

when the going gets tough..

the tough get going..

GOING GOING BUT NOT YET GONE

we must hope to lock the door..

and keep them out..

for they never mean to leave for good..

unless we hold them to account..

keep them at bay..

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT