Saturday 30 July 2011

Next blog

To find inspiration for myself I like to open this blog and then click on the next blog tab at the top of the page and I am sure to find five or six art blogs, random, from all over the world.
It seems Google has shuffled art blogs together over time.
After five or six or so the next blogs go real random - blogs about anything at all which is also interesting.
And oh it is a bitter sweet pleasure because I am finding no time to do any new drawing myself.
Perhaps later this week.. or next week...
Nice to be busy though.
The pastel drawing above is an old one of mine of someone else drawing which is where I am at lately - looking at some one else's drawings.
It crushes my ego to realise I have become a wannabe, a dilletante, a bloody procrastinator!
Still, could be worse. It's a sunny day today and Spring is coming.
Like Christmas.
Like my latest drawing..

Thursday 21 July 2011

Painting Cars 1

I have been dreaming of this for years.
Putting art work on the car.
So I pulled it to bits to get into all those hard to get at places and deal with what ever and make sure it don't become a future problem.
This vehicle is a canvas that I want to last.


Monday 18 July 2011

The Art of Work

For the last couple of months I have been renovating a big old farmhouse, giving the vehicle a makeover and overhaul and creating space and tools for an expanding etching press manufactory.
It's Winter, a great time for working, advancing the cause, preparing for the future.
And while working towards the better functioning of future work other work is piling up: trees need pruning and planting and gardens sorted, various preserves need making and maintenance of the home ...unfinished work crying out for attention all over the place.
It seems there are three types of work to do.
Building for the future which I am currently engaged in.
Routine and seasonal maintenance which I try to fit in.
Artwork-
Yes, I remember when I used to be an artist and here I am with an art blog with no new art work to show
This is a serious threat to my whole carefully constructed ( read dreamed, made up, wishlist, fantasy, delusion, get real, who do you think you are anyway, get yer hand off it, etc, ) philosophy of the meaning of life, in particular; my life.
Yes folks, the life of an artist!
Will he ever draw again? Where are the new paintings? The new etchings? Do we even care?
Well I'll leave those, and other pressing questions to you to sort 'cause today I am off to build a deck and hang a door and feed some horses.
And it's not raining again for the fourth day in a row, hooray!!

Thursday 14 July 2011

Calligraphy - A Poem

I am finding that people who are not artists give me art works and frames to have or to store for them indefinitely.
The poem above is in an old leather bound sketch book of first quality and contains about a dozen poems, some illustrated, reproduced with calligraphic inks and pens by hand.

The book belonged to an aquaintance's Mother and I protested that she should not give me a treasure made by her Mother but no - She insisted.

Lucky me..

I am using the remaining pages in the book to draw animals, mostly horses, from life.
The quality and age of the sketch book and the almost faultless calligraphy of the poems in the first pages of the book encourage me to be on my very best behaviour drawing wise and I only use the book when I feel I have my eye in and am inspired by what's in front of me