Spoonful - 31

I've continued on the trees in the background today..interrupted only by the pressing need to go out and find a replacement for our destroyed car...I don't know about you or car dealers in your part of the world...but it's always a trying time of weighing up the need to be kind to the environment and work within a limited budget whilst also not wanting to drive a car that is indistinct and doesn't reflect the creative nature of those who'll be driving it....more news about that another time.

I've also begun work on sketches for the next picture...I'm always scribbling out new ideas, but I think I have the basis for something interesting!...again, more about that another time!

Spoonful - 30

I'm now quite tired of this piece...it's not achieved what I wanted it to...at least so far. It doesn't look like I wanted it to...but I'm going to finish it soon. I've worked hard on adding the trees in to the back ground...I've completed the Matron's belt buckle..I hope you can see what it depicts?..I only have the final trees to the far left to finish..then attend to the middle ground and add in a crow or two and I think I'll be finished.

Spoonful - 29

I've not been able to spend very long on my work here today. Last weekend we had snow here in my part of England...not much of it, but enough to knock out the day to day running of the transport network to some degree. To cut a long story short, someone drove their car into our car...we weren't in our car at the time.,, we'd parked it up on an adjacent road to enable us to drive it the next day after the snow ( we live on a narrow avenue on a hill which is difficult to drive up or down when snow is on the ground!) anyway, the result was our car was damaged beyond repair. So calls back and forth between insurance companies, police, hire car companies and garages has dominated the last few days. Today I had to be available to not only facilitate the collection of a courtesy car we'd been allocated whilst our car's damage was being assessed, but I had to go to a hire company in another part of the city to take delivery of a car which we'll use until the finance surrounding the insurance company is resolved. I also had to deal with Annie's school pick up...the her school Valentines disco, and eventually a visit to the supermarket.

Phew! I'm glad that's all over at the end of this day  as yet another fall of snow is forecast over night. I've made sure that the shiny new VW hire care car is not in a place where it can get run into.

Tomorrow I shall press on with my work here and move into the final stages...not long to go now!

Spoonful - 28

I'm probably going quite mad...I seem to be having a flurry of ideas for new pieces..one in particular I've already mentioned this week (or was it last week?) regarding the bubble blowing Cello Girl...I also have ideas revolving around another self portrait...and in response to having watched so much ballet in the last couple of months, I'd like to try at some point to try my hand at depicting a scene from one of my favourite ballets 'the Firebird' by Igor Stravinsky...don't get your hopes up..but it's a wonderful piece which suggests some dramatic and fantastic images.... I'll probably end up sticking with my own Corps De Ballet for now.

Spoonful - 27

Spoonful - 26

I opted to have my last girl with her eyes open...I don't know about  you, but I like to be drawn into a scene...of course the viewer as 'voyuer' is an acceptable method, but i want you see that the 'artist' or rather the 'creative' that is the last girl has a degree of self realisation as she wonders why she's in the line..as she ponders her fate, do you the viewer call her to step out of line..do you alert the otherwise oblivious girls to wake to their fate?...is it right to tell an artist when you feel they are conforming?...that they are being suckered into a falseness...a world where money and fame outweigh artistic integrity?

An insight.......

whilst working on the final Cello girl for my current picture, I tried various poses for her to adopt. I'd worked on the idea that she would be slightly bending forward...but due to the limited space . I opted for her to stand erect. However..I've continued developing the previous sketch for her bending forward. Above is a photo showing very rough ideas on tracing paper....I like to work on tracing paper so that I can rework ideas selecting the good points..then trace onto a new piece for further development....I really like the pose and would consider incorporating it into another composition...but please note...as with all my sketched ideas...they tend to languish in the 'vaults' until needed...this might be next week, or it might be next decade! but either way...they  'live'......and are in gestation...

Spoonful - 26

I'm really pleased with my work today..I spent a good amount of time working on drawing for the final Cello girl..I found a photo of a woman blowing bubbles which gave me the refference for the possition of the hands..but as for the face, I used my imagination which worked up to a point...I'm not inking it yet because I might like her to have her eyes open and turned towards the viewer...this might work as I usually like to draw you into the picture to be involved at some level...I'll see what it looks like tomorrow after a night's sleep.

It's always wonderful to hear what you think of my work..I have a small but very valuable regular readership, a couple of whom comment on a regular basis..I'm not being melodramatic when I say that I am fuelled and invigorated by such comments. From my exhibitions I know that this type of work divides opinion..basically into two categories...those who love it, which is the majority, and those who don't which thankfully is a very small minority. Since I have now stopped exhibiting, I get very little feedback on what I'm doing, so your comments are ever more valuable. Thank you to those who have and continue to comment and consequently affect the work that I do.!...

Spoonful - 25

My parade of oddness is almost at an end...one more Cello girl to go...bubbles and background stuff to complete...then all the little details that have yet to be addressed like the picture in Cell girl 4 's hand...Matron's belt buckle...the spoon...the cello edging etc etc.....

Spoonful - 24

Progress today has centred around the planets and the fourth Cello girl's glove...just under five hours work...

Spoonful - 23

Had a couple of difficult days which amongst other annoying stuff  included a poorly lap top...thankfully the cure for the lap top was no more serious than a new power supply lead. Could have been so much more expensive!  I've worked on the sky mainly today which has included work on the planets...the first one I worked on was directly above the medicine Cello Girl's head...the current one undergoing work is to the right of the ,matron's face.

An exhibition - By Tim Young

 I thought you might like to see a couple of photographs of my Brother Tim's first ever exhibition of art which ran this weekend. Tim likes to produce varied subjects, but majors on wildlife, birds especially...so it was particularly fitting that his first exhibition should be at the Attenbourgh Nature Reserve near Nottingham..

Tim works predominantly in pencils, but also uses watercolours and ink...and is seen here with his wife Wendy demonstrating his work to my wife Jan!

 The exhibition attracted a lot of interest over the weekend with over 100 people calling to see the works. Below you can see an examples of his work...the Kingfisher in the foreground is particularly striking!

I was especially proud to see his work since my Father who died in 2000 was a very keen breeder and watcher of birds...he used to tell Tim and I all about  birds when we were young..and it would have made him incredibly proud to see that the wonder and delight with which he taught us to appreciate wildlife had continued long after he had passed away.

Spoonful - 22

Cello girl number four is a miserable so and so...I think I can honestly say that my art...my creativity and all that it concerns has seen me experience the happiest and the saddest of emotions..the absolute joy of imagining something, then creating it and having another person or persons relate to it and gain meaning and pleasure from it is fantastic. The absolute frustration of encountering the limitations of one's ability and the inability to make my 'business' a 'success' is heart rending.

Spoonful - 21

Here's a close up of my Cello girls..I never seem to get the knickers right...for the purposes of these recent woks, I'm not aiming (mainly due to my lack of ability )  to achieve the lightness and delicacy I'd idealy want. As an important symbolic and fetishistic part of my visual referencing, it's important to me that i get things right...so far I haven't...but i'm having fun trying!...

Spoonful - 20

Well...what can I say...I'm still working and as you see, here is the start of the penultimate Cello girl..here she's representing visual art...that's why she's carrying a picture frame...I'm toying with the idea that it will be one of my pictures...which one ?..there are also more bubbles around her head as the final Cello girl will be the one blowing the bubbles...!

Spoonful - 19

Spoonful - 18

Not a great deal of progress today..but did manage a good run this morning and met a good friend for coffee and a walk in the gorgeous sunshine this afternoon..rather chilly though!..

Spoonful - 17

It's a funny time of year for me...kids are back to school/ college..and Jan has gone to India for a while to work..she's a guest of the Cochin university in  Kerala...all very exciting..the visit is to plan a series of training sessions for Doctors in medical schools across India..potentially a big contract and a gateway to many more visits to India.
So I'm going to hopefully take advantage  of the 'quiet' by doing lots more running and lots more work on this piece. My work ethic has decreased considerably in recent months...if I'd been working on this picture a year or two ago, this amount of work would represent two weeks progress...instead it's taken me two months.

Spoonful - 16

The first Cello girl represents music...the second is faith..the third is literature...the fourth will be art...the fifth will be....

Spoonful - 15

girl mnumber three has emerged from the mist...more to do on number two though.....where are the bubbles coming from?

Spoonful - 14

 OK...don't faint..it's me again! third day in a row...i know! but like i said..once I get back into a routine, i find it much easier to work. Inspiration wise I had  hit a bit of a dry patch..my original concept for this piece was about the artist being convince/coerced into conforming to set patterns of  expression and presentation as prescribed by the 'world' to an extent that even though the artist might want to forge a path of discovery, a certain inbred and actually false notion of what the 'art world' expects prevails thus rendering the artist ineffectual.
I needed to find again my sense of wonder and love of symbolism..and a disregard for what other people think. This of course is difficult since I have removed myself from the world of exhibiting my work...I no longer have the public feedback regarding what I'm trying to do. I have only the memory that my Cello girls, Mad vicars...Cancan dancers and trains are what the public said they loved about my work...and thankfully, they are what I love about it too.! So if you don't like what I do..you don't have to look at it, you know where the door is! If you do like what I do....then hold on...there's lots more to come!

Spoonful - 13

It's good to be able to get back to some sort of routine after the School holidays...I like my work day routine. I work best when I can spend lengthy amounts of time working without interruption. Despite the many years now working virtually every day with this technique, it still takes a while to settle into it each day. This has to do not only with getting my equipment and my desk organised, but requires my breathing and heart rate to calm. Since I've been running, my heart rate and breathing have reduced in frequency... in fact my resting pulse is around 63 beats per minute! But a few minutes sitting quietly and thinking about what I want to achieve during the day will see me ready....usually!

Spoonful - 12

The girls will have black gloves since I made a mess of Cello girl number 2's hands...!Some of the best ideas come from mistakes!

Spoonful - 11

Not much to show ....but I have at least returned to this piece. Girl number 2 is taking shape ( only three more to go!) I also taking this opportunity to wish you all a very happy new year...my how the time flies!

Spoonful - 10

Began work on the second Cello girl today...added more back ground too. shadows to the nurses hand and  spoon need further attention. I know I've been negative recently..I'm feeling a bit lost to be honest. but I still have the need and the urge ( they're the same surely?) to create..and I'd really like to see this one out...so I can start the next one!

Looking back - looking forward.

I hope by now, you've had an enjoyable Christmas....if indeed you even celebrate it where you live. It's funny, but as a child I thought the whole world stopped for Christmas...but I guess somewhere there lives a counterpart me who believes the whole world stops for Eid, or Diwali...I'm digressing....I'm supposing that you have approached the end of this year with a modicum of satisfaction and anticipation for what is to come in 2012.
In time honoured tradition I'm looking back over my year...Last January I was still reeling from the death of my close friend Geoff...Geoff had been a good and encouraging friend who felt strongly that I should use my art to earn money whilst developing  my style and skill. We were in discussions about an exciting project when his illness took hold ...I will never know what might have been. Around the same time I had also found an opportunity to create the cover for a novel which  was thought would become a best seller. I created the artwork and was told it was perfect. However upon publication, I discovered my artwork had been dropped..I'd not had any notification of this, so I felt very upset...and you guessed it, the book went on to become a bestseller!To this day I have no idea why my work was deemed unsuitable.
I knew that to continue I needed to find some encouragement, but I found none. I've continued to produce artwork which moves from my drawing table straight to storage besides the wardrobe never to be seen again. From my many previous exhibitions, I leaned that what people wanted was my black and white surreal erotic work...not the pretty trees and landscapes which to be honest you can get anywhere. But to begin again to have my work reproduced for the print market is prohibitive to the point of silliness.
The burden of financial problems is alleviated by the fact that Jan's work is progressively more involved , and requires frequent overseas trips...it pays the bills though. My time is however not waisted as I see it as my duty to enable her to do this. But this detracts from the work I do.
To this end. and the unavailability of  the work people want. I've cancelled all exhibitions and given up seeking bookings for any more...I have nothing to sell that people want and it's too complicated and expensive to get what I do have, photographed and printed.
I feel very heavy of heart creatively because I have no shortage of ideas...I do however lack to freedom to produce work which will sell...I cannot dedicate my time to exhibiting.
Perhaps one day it will change...perhaps by this time next year I'll have a better outlook...perhaps.
I shall continue to work...I shall continue to run..( I'm hoping to reach half marathon standard this year).I shall coninue...
May I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very peaceful and very very hopeful New Year!

Spoonful - 10

Having given up on the exhibition scene, I am lacking the contact with the public who are actually instrumental in inspiration and solidifying my resolve to produce the kind of work i enjoy. Therefore I'm finding it difficult to feel confident in what I do...my motivation is lacking and it's rare that I am able to actually achieve the 5 - 6 hours a day I aim to work for. Never the less...I still have my vision for this piece, and I'm ready to move onto the next stage. Today I was content to lay down a little of the back ground shades, which are light and even, leaving potential for additional clouds and birds as I see fit. There will also be stars and planets in the sky!

The next big factor is to add in the other four cello girls who will be standing in the line! 

Spoonful - 9

An artist is always alone - if he is an artist. No, what the artist needs is loneliness.
Henry Miller

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_art.html#ixzz1gkLry6n3

Spoonful - 8

you're very patient...but it's something you have to get used to...my sporadic posting is symptomatic of  my current low point concerning motivation ...I'm sorry, but at least today I was back in the groove..it's not a matter of not knowing what I'm doing...I know where this piece is going and what comes next...I hope you'll continue to keep up to date with my posts and let me know what you think.

Spoonful - 7

I had an interesting experience today. We were out doing the weekly shop in a large Sainsbury's supermarket ...the checkouts were packed and the shop was very busy when the fire alarm went off...staff ushered everyone ( there must have been 100 plus) out into the car park where we waited. It was odd looking into the shop seeing everything abandoned as if everyone had just walked out..which ermm...they had. We were all allowed back in soon after as it had been a false alarm...thankfully. you know, I even heard a few complaining along the lines of " all that for it only to be a false alarm!"...I just smiled and thought, if had been a real fire, we'd not have been allowed to finish our shopping...some people eh?

Spoonful - 6

Don't have a coronary..yes...it's me again...that's right...two days on the run...and speaking of running, I've now run my second run this week after my mammoth November run which totalled 111.58 miles. I'm going to take it easy over December ...!

Today's work centred around the little boy....I made a few small alterations to his face too...so I'm happy with the way it's now developing....I think you're going to have fun working out what it's all about...any ideas?

Spoonful - 5

Hello...remember me? ...I'm the person that used to post progress on strange pieces of artwork slowly developing each day before your very eyes. Well I've not done that for a while...I'm not very good at it at the moment....I find life and art difficult. I've sat almost every day looking at my work, wondering what to do...but today I knew what to do. I'm not sure I've done it very well...and it might be that I'll scrap it tomorrow...but for now it will be as it is before you now. I've put my very young self in the picture yet again...surrounded by thorns...when I showed this to Jan she remarked that i looked as if I was trapped...this was not my intention...the thorns surrounding me, the Nurse..the Cello girl are my way of saying these memories...ideas...influences are mine...you're not allowed to touch them or alter them ...they protect me and my dreams...fantasies and fascinations....but I'm allowing you to observe from outside...at some point, one of the characters yet to be included will look out to you and invite comment...attitude...judgement...but until then...you are only an observer...a guest in the 'canyons of my mind' !

Flash!

As I rounded the corner into Vicarage Avenue and the warmth and comfort of my own home, I could see the banner held up by various Family members and friends which read "Well done! 100 miles run for Children in Need...you're our hero"...as I neared the group of cheering people , I felt a mighty pride well up within me as I realised that all the nights of running on darkened pavements in the rain, wind and cold had brought me to this unimaginable climax to a month of almost nightly runs of 5 miles.

I collapsed into the arms of my gathered friends and felt the warmth of the blanket wrapped around my shoulders and the steaming mug of hot chocolate thrust into my hands. this was the most wonderful and unlooked for achievement of my inactive and once overweight life!

Of course, the above description isn't entirely accurate...in fact everything except one fact is true ( assuming you cannot have false facts!)...Today I did reach and surpass my target of running 100 miles in November! I honestly cannot believe that I've been able to do it bearing in mind that it was only a few short months ago in May that I was overweight and unable to walk briskly for 20 minutes without becoming sweaty and out of breath ( well almost!)....Now I'm running on average 5 miles every evening ( with the occasional night off )

Reaching my target, I  felt like fireworks were going off inside my chest...my head...my legs...I took a photo of myself on my Mobile as I passed the point where the maps said I'd reached my goal...looking at the photo, it reminded me of the final scene of Flash Gordon...a moment when the hero is victorious..the moment for celebration has arrived...it's a scene in the film that ( wait for it!) has caused tears to well up on occasion ( I've seen it numerous times)...I love it when the good guys win! ...and looking at my photo gives me the same feeling!

So...in reality...I rounded the corner into the Avenue...I ran up to my front door...I went in..had a drink of orange squash and went to take a shower....and that was that.

 This is what it felt like (above)

This is the reality (below!)

Spoonful - 4

Spoonful - 3

Spoonful - 2

I've worked on the Matron's face today...once again I used a photograph of myself as the basis for her face....I've exaggerated certain aspects of course and really I don't look like this at all...but still...it makes me chuckle! I've decided for this version to place the medicine spoon just inside the Cello girl's mouth..not sure if I'm going to use the Mad Vicar in between these two now or even at all...we'll see.

Spoonful - 1

This is the third incarnation! I had dreadful difficulty with the pinching nose thing so have had a bit of a rethink...the basic concept is still there, but with some subtle differences which will become apparent as we go along!

In other news, I continue to run and have embarked on a fund raising challenge inn aid of Children in Need, which is run by the BBC. An annual event which raises millions of pounds to support child and family projects thought the British Isles. My aim is to run a total of 100 miles in November. So far I've managed to run 50.03 miles, just over half way. If you'd like to support me, you can visit my page which is administered by Virgin Money by clicking here My goal is to raise £200 in donations, and as an incentive, for each person who donates £5.00 or more, I invite you to make a guess as to how many miles I will have run by the end of November 30th. the person who guesses correctly or who is nearest, will win a personally signed original piece of my Hyperpointillist artwork..! So get clicking and get donating!

Good news...bad news.

The good news is, for those of you who had a problem with and didn't like my last picture 'Medicine'...I've ruined it and abandoned work on it! The bad news for you is that I've immediately begun work on a new version...I will be able to avoid the mistakes I've made in the last couple of days and no doubt be freed to make a whole new bunch of fresh mistakes. Anyway, it's all part of the process and I'm incredibly mad and disappointed with myself...I love my concept for the piece...I'm very excited about the way it will extend beyond the original three characters. I can't wait to get back to dotting tomorrow as I've completed all the pencil work today. I'm down...but I'm not out...tomorrow, I'll be back up!

Medicine - 8

Medicine - 7

first of all..I should tell you I've not actually done any dotting today...although I've drawn in the Cello at long last!...the reason for me not dotting was I was absolutely exhausted...odd considering I awoke after a good night's sleep, which has been rare recently. I felt invigorated, full of energy and immediately knew I would need to go for a run. I've been running just over 4 miles each night ...but today I decided to press on to my next goal which was 7 miles. The actual final distance was 7.14 miles. I'm now running a regular 4.25 miles as a regular evening run, and an extended run once or twice a week.

My 50th birthday is coming up later this month...I really am 'Fit before fifty' !

Medicine - 6

Medicine - 5

To find the correct resource for the hand on the nose and the nurses hand, I took photographs of my own hands...since the nurses face is based on my face, I felt this was in keeping.

So it's November!

Having 'one of those days'...not able to motivate myself. Suffering mainly from a dose of 'reallity'. You may or may not know that I'm approaching my 50th birthday. I had originally arranged a party...I'd booked a band and Cancan dancers at a local pub. But decided to cancel when I realised that it was an rather selfish ego trip which would leave my family having to manage or very little money on the run up to Christmas. Besides, we always have a party in between Jan and my birthdays in November. So I then arrived at the idea of making it something special which would probably involve fancy dress. Then it was helpfully pointed out to me that I would after all be 50 years old and most of my friends were also of similar or older age, and would be unlikely to want to do fancy dress. So after a couple of friends also voiced their anxiety, I decided it will have to tone down even further , and will be a normal conformist party.

It's really not my intention to cause my friends anxiety on what should be a night of fun and happiness...So, I've decided that I will pull out all the stops for the next time I have a 50th birthday party...so be warned...I'll probably be the only one there!

PS...I took the photo above from my front room window this afternoon. the trees in the avenue are gorgeous at this time of year.