Sinodd - 20

Having managed to fail miserably at making my business (and my dream) pay, I now have to find a job...not easy for a 50 year old with an NVQ in childcare....which I have no intention of returning to! This therefore will probably be the last piece of art I'll have time to devote all my attentions to, I tried once before to work on my days off to produce something this size...A picture of 110 hours took me nearly 9 months as opposed to 2 months at the moment. The estimated time for this piece is over 200 hours...so this would take almost a year if I had a proper job.

Tim asked me what the size of this piece was...so I've included a 6 inch ruler in the photo for reference.

Sinodd - 19

Forging ahead with the metal work on the Loco...Currently facing a little pressure from certain fronts to consider getting a job to earn some money since there's no money in the job I'm currently doing. not happy, but then again what can you do?May have to put the art on the back burner for a few years.

Sinodd - 18 + holiday

 Well...I'm back! Had a few days away in North Berwick staying with our friends Kay and her son Joe...John was unable to be there due work commitments. was a lovely break. I've not published any photos from there, but here a re a couple I took on the way home yesterday...the sculpture is known as The Angel of the North. It was designed by English artist  Anthony Gormley and is visible from the A1 motorway as you travel north towards Newcastle ( or indeed if you're coming the other way!) We stopped at the picnic area to have a bite to eat on our journey home.

Sinodd - 17

Feel like I'm wading through treacle today...lots of stupid stuff at home taking my energy...I'm tired and I'm not enjoying life and not really addressing the fact that I've earned very little in the past year, had no exhibitions. Going to take a few days away and see good friends by the sea...hopefully recharge my batteries a little at the same time!

Sinodd - 16

My aim this week is to finish the background as far as the right hand edge of this photo...at least that will surround the Mad Vicars. I will then continue on then refining the faces and robes...they're sitting on a pew I think...which should traverse the entire length of the picture.

Sinodd - 15 Fizzy Fun Run

 Continued working on the background today..still looking to regain some sort of a regular routine which seems to elude me. School holidays will be over soon, and my eldest son will move out to new digs and a new year at Uni...my other son will return to college.

Last evening I joined with friends and family of Geoff Sims who as you may know sadly died in 2010. Geoff was in charge of the Edinburgh Marathon and all fund raising initiatives surrounding it, so after he'd passed away, it was decided to run an annual fun run to remember him and raise funds for the specific charities. this time we were raising funds for the Hospice in which eh spent his last few days. St Columba's in Edinburgh runs solely on donations from the public, so it seemed a perfect recipient for the money we'd raised.

Here's a photo taken last night at the starting line...there weren't many of us taking part, but it was a lovely time despite it being an extremely warm evening! Afterwards we gathered at a local rowing club with a number of others who had taken part in the race to drink a toast to our lost friend.

Sinodd - 14

Spent a few hours pencilling in the back ground you see here...yes it's the pistons and running gear of a steam engine...once again it's a Derby built 'Black' 5. again, the loco represents progress and evolution..pioneering and human achievement. I also like the complexity of the subject!

Sinodd - 12

Working on the Chimp is tedious...so I've started work on the Vicars..I've also turned my attention to what goes behind them.

Sinodd - 11

I know it's important to discuss things...to work things out...to reach understandings...to formulate theories ...doctrines...morals...BUT...there is nothing, nothing that can replace action..the spirit of man is to discover, to find new things, new ways of seeing things...and the only way of doing these things is to go. It is in the doing that we develop and evolve....and in doing so we show the way for those who would follow.

Sinodd - 10

When I was a lad, I used to love Topic time at school...my favourite 'topics' were flight and space.I was 8 in 1969 when Neil Armstrong set foot on The moon, and so all things 'spacey' were in vogue...not only that but Science Fiction...Star Trek, Doctor Who, Thunderbirds etc..and the comics we read like TV21, The Eagle, Countdown etc always had articles on space exploration...aircraft...wall charts..i loved the wall charts where you'd buy next week's issue and find free stickers to stick on your wall chart. I liked to make scrap books and my own comics about space...so here I am carrying my home made book of space. to the eight year old me, it seemed completely logical (Captain!) that man would form colonies on the Moon, and I imagined that of course by the time I'd grown up, it would be common place to take holidays on Mars or Venus..

Oh to be young and innocent again...but it's something that is part of the basic inbuilt nature of man...the desire to see what is beyond our visible horizon..to see over the next hill...to explore to discover to be better and bigger...to go faster higher.we've come a long way...but we have so much further to go...from the trees to the stars.....to infinity and beyond!...It's there...lets go there!

Sinodd - 9

 Today I have worked on the shirt of the 'Young me' and completed the left arm of Oskur ...I need to develop the shadows on the shirt and equalise the level of contrast between it and the Chimp. I also need a renewed boost of impetuous to work...school holidays...a wedding at the weekend...all sorts of other stuff happening means my usual and beloved routine goes awry...

Sinodd - 8

Reworked 'young me's' body and progressed with Oskur...had to research Chimp hands...not a great rendition..but close enough!

Sinodd - 7

Not seen Oskur for a while..so here he is.I've also reduced my bouffant hairstyle only in answer to my own vanity!.....I've also decided that the younger me will  be carrying a book about  space exploration. I fear that my head is a little too big in proportion to my body ( some will say this is true to reality!) So will have to do a little redrawing of my body....if only we could do that in real life eh?

Sinodd - 6

As you've probably guessed by now, I've been very wrapped up with the coverage of the Olympic Games. It's great! I have no apologies to offer, it's a wonderful celebration of human endeavour and a shining beacon of positivity. Of course I'm quite buoyant with the performance of Team GB! It's even had an influence on my own running experience. I run a regular distance of either 5.06 miles or 6.01 miles most evenings. I'm not fast, so it usually takes me around around 75 minutes to complete the 5 mile route. but last night I found myself running faster than I've done and completed the route in 63 mins!...a personal best. In a couple of weeks i shall be running to raise money in memory of my friend Geoff Simms who died of cancer in December 2010. More on what I'm doing and how you can contribute nearer the date!

I've now added the figures you saw in my last post...the most important thing is to establish the facial features and expressions.I'm really pleased with these because they're all based on photos I've taken of myself in preparation for this piece...all of them except for the Chimp of course! Incidentally, my younger self here does seem to have ridiculously 'big hair'...it's actually quite accurate...I used to look like that ! (oh to be able to have that luxury again !)

sinodd - 5

I don't think I should really be showing you this...I don't usually give away my secrets...but here you can see how I put together my compositions. i like to treat my characters like actors on a stage..I like to make my drawings , then make tracings of them...I tear them into separate pieces so that I can place them and move them around the page until I find the correct balance.....here you can see the drawing of the boy who I intend to be leading the chimp by the hand...a third 'Mad vicar' will be placed between the two on the pew! I'm quite happy with this grouping although there are a few details i want to address...for example the boy will be carrying something in his right hand..perhaps a book..perhaps the woolly panda he's seen with in other pictures...I favour the book which might be about dinosaurs...

More next time!

Sinodd - 4

I've begun work on the girl today...you'll know by now that I love the Bob hair style...this one is based on a 1960's version..perhaps if you know what this particular style is you'll let me know? But I find it's incredibly flattering to a woman. It also represents the styles I saw as a child and as worn by many of the TV and pop stars of the time.

Are you enjoying the London Olympics?...I'm totally wrapped up in the games...I love seeing sports men and women in the prime of their lives giving their all to succeed sometimes against all odds. I love the human spirit to compete and achieve, and in sport, and particularly The Olympics which brings people together from all nations and creeds to celebrate the joy of life!

To my detractors. (that's nothing to do with farm machinery by the way!)

I thought by way of explanation, I'd attempt to answer some of the questions that are often levelled at me by way of criticism or envy. To get to where I am now. at this point in my life, I've had to work steadily and honestly towards a goal that I held as a distant dream, which although I had the ability...I was never sure that it would ever become a reality.
I've always been a frugal sort of person, I've never held material gain as something important in my life...no fancy cars, no foreign holidays...no big houses. All I've ever wanted to do was spend my time making the kind of art I wanted ....I've worked in a variety of jobs which although relatively well paid, have often been chosen to enable me to continue working on my art in my spare time. My wife and I have always applied for mortgages which were easily affordable whilst many of our friends opted for the most expensive...we've bought houses which have increased well in value, we've sold at times when the market is strong and invested as much as possible in a deposit for our next house. Many years down the line we find ourselves with an amazingly low mortgage.
I am in the enviable position where I do not need to work for a weekly wage, Jan is working regularly at something she enjoys and which pays our bills. whilst we live in a constant state of imminent disaster...we are able to provide for our children and maintain our current state. this is believe it or not, a condition which constantly brings with it a kind of excitement in it's vulnerability.
I am therefore able to explore my creativity in visual representation. Currently I'm exploring and addressing various aspects of my childhood...my parent's influence on my development, my sexuality, my sensitivity and my love of the world around me which colours my imagination.
It is often said that the difference between and artist producing 'Art' and an artist producing illustrations is that 'Art' concerns a visual language with which the artist seeks to make sense of their understanding of their world...a strange alchemy of experience, questing and reference....
In whatever way you care to interpret my work, I'm doing so because I am able...because i have the time...I'm not tied to evening or weekends...It is my life.

That is all.