Hobbit In A Hood

The programme made by Cambridge T.V. about my work has recently been shown and   in case you missed it, Daniel has now put it onto my website. Just go to my MEDIA page, click on the top item and click on the gold writing to the left.
Do I like the end product? It's always fascinating to hear what one has said (and a little horrifying) because you have no recollection of saying such a thing during filming.
Visually it looks OK, but it was a big mistake to have put my duffle coat hood up for the opening shots of me on the bike. This was to link into the sequence about my latest painting
 'Bicycle Thieves'
 It was very cold and I did have to hang around for an hour, though I do look like one of the hobbits.

All Fall Down

It has been a hectic few weeks getting Ted Coney's Family Portraits ready for visitors. Everything seemed to go wrong with the house, including one inside wall beginning to crumble?!
We haven't sorted it out yet (just don't touch it) but not sure why it's happening.
In the same weekend the following also occurred: armchair broke (IKEA sent a replacement bit), photo crashed to the ground (frame and glass replaced), garden arch broke in the wind (chucked it away), cafetiere cracked, spilling hot coffee (replaced) and the doorbell stopped working (but miraculously started again ).
The trouble with opening the house to the public is everything needs to appear  OK., even if it isn't.

Suits You, Sir

For my birthday the other week, I asked for small battered suitcases as presents. I have one but need four. Hazel and David managed to get me one each, so now I only have to find two more.
The reason for this rather strange request is because I want to use them in my next painting.
It will be nearly fifty years since I did my first family painting, 'Life Cycle' which is about my grandmother and her four sisters at three stages of life.
For the new painting I want each of them to be represented by five East Yorkshire sea-side towns of my childhood. I intend to do some research in the area over the summer.
And the suitcases? Each one will hold the objects I collect, from each place and the opening of the cases may very well be displayed in the painting.

Unpainting

I have been working on my latest painting ' Bicycle Thieves' quite a lot, recently. I am now at the 'Unpainting' stage, having put in the brides and the non brides.
By 'Unpainting ' I mean I gradually taking off some of the paint I have put on, using a shaper (a sort of wedge shaped bit of rubber), some tissue and cotton buds.
This is because I want to make the bicycle shapes translucent so that you can see the figures underneath.
You can just begin to see this happening if you go to the NEWS AND REVIEWS page on my website. Daniel will keep updating my progress every month, as I work on the painting.