Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Jigsaw - Sketch and prep.

The aim was to spend all day working, but as usual, being the other half of a busy actress and father to three means certain duties have to be done that cannot be avoided.The main one today was to do the weekly shop. Now I'm usually quite capable at most things,I've a qualification in childcare...I've worked with young people for years, I trained as a nurse and ....well there's one handicap.....I'm a man.Apparently we men can only concentrate on one thing at a time...and even this is distracted by thinking about sex ... according to some sources, that occurs every 15 seconds...(or more often)..but it also means that shopping is a very different exercise when I do it to when Jan does it.....

Now I know what you're thinking...I bet he comes back with a crate of beer,crisps and lots of cake.Well no you naughty thing....I buy meals for the week, cat food,toilet rolls ...salad etc....I'm quite capable.But when I got home today,swaggering like the architypal caveman dragging the limp carcass of a Mamoth into the family cave, I started packing all the things away and I was sure I'd bought more stuff, but where was it?...I must have left it at the check out.So I rang the supermarket and confessed my slip up...but the lady I spoke to was only in an office...so not only had I confessed my stupidity to one lady, I had to be put on hold to tell the lady at 'Customer Services' as well. Sadly she was too busy (servicing customers I presume) so the first lady took my number and assured me that she would ask the lady in customer services to call me. I've no idea if she eventually did, because I had to go off on the school run.

But I sat and applied my colossal brain to what I'd bought...looked in the cupboard and looked at my receipt and guess what?....I'd not forgotten any bags at the shop, the lack of some vital sundries was due to the fact that i'd just forgotten to buy them......I must have been thinking about something else!

What the heck am I going on about?.....this is supposed to be a post about art...aren't I supposed to be the bohemian one...aren't i supposed to lounge about surrounded by naked models offering me absinthe by the bucket load?.....Ladies and gentle men...I give you the reality....'my reality'....and i wouldn't have it any other way.....................well perhaps with just one glass of Absinthe would be nice...but the reality of being an artist and responsible dad is just this.

Oh, i nearly forgot......The pencil work above is the very beginning of my new picture...and after all that talk yesterday of 'Nebulae'....my new picture is given the working title of 'Jigsaw'. Tomorrow I shall start dotting.

Below is my workspace...with blank piece of paper before any work....it was a beautiful morning.






7 comments:

Maurice Sampson said...

Thanks for the positive input Niall. This a pretty cool little setup you have here. I saw what you said in the earlier post about this artist life of ours being solitary one, I'm glad to see someone else shares my feelings in this. It's one of the biggest things I struggle with.

Niall young said...

Maurice..Me too. Before I was made redundant, I worked as a ~Social worker with kids in care...a VERY social job...i love working as aprt of a team...but since I've made the move to full time work on my art, I work alone,...that's where blogging/Twitter/Facebook become so integral into my daily life as a means of sharing my day with others.

Shachi said...

That was funny :) I've never forgotten to shop from my grocery list or left bags at the store :)

Eager to see Jigsaw shaping up.....

Preeti Shenoy said...

Loved this post :) Loved the way u wrote it. Different from your usual posts.
Nice working place--don't u get distracted looking out of the window?(i refused to put my desk against a window--i'd be staring out all day!)
Cheers
preeti

Di said...

aaw thanks for making me smile, glad to know its not just me who is loosing it!!!

Niall young said...

Shachi..I usually take a list, but for some reason I decided not to....doh!

Preeti...I definitely HAVE to sit at the window...the closeness and intensity of the work requires that I look up and focus on something distant from time to time to relieve the strain.

DI...To suggest that I am losing it would be to asume I had it in the first place...ahahaha!

VJ said...

Hey Niall: I am not very artistic so just a practical suggestion...
why dont you order your groceries online!...I still think its worth the 3 or 4 pounds extra ! you get more time on your work( unless you love browsing supermarket shelves which I know many women do and their husbands love taking them too!) and you can book a slot even three weeks before and keep changing till the night before..and they will bring it up to you refrigerator/lard.I have tried only TESCO so far and just love it...