Whatever Happened To Baby Jesus?

I've been displaying our nativity scene at Christmas for many years and  new  figures are added annually. We now have an army of Herod's soldiers.
There is a method in my madness. I am using some of these characters in my new painting
'The Wasp and the Ring' which is about the birth of a grandchild and shows the forces of good and evil swirling around him.
Most of our immediate family came last weekend and it was good to see the grandchildren playing with the nativity scene to enact the age old story.
However my naughty son (or was it a son-in-law?) removed baby Jesus from his crib and I couldn't find him. He was later discovered in my spectacles case.
Happy Christmas!

The Reveal

I've recently attended a  study day entitled 'Cabinets of Curiosities', looking at how collectors displayed their treasured objects.
They would shield their cabinets with doors, keeping guests in excited anticipation before revealing what their latest finds were.
I suppose I am trying to do something similar with my painting 'Limners' which has tiny paintings behind 37 beautifully hinged doors. You can see an article about it if you scroll down to 1st December 2005 on the NEWS AND REVIEWS page on my website.
I was also inspired by  advent calendars but I fear my grandchildren  find it an anticlimax as they are more used to discovering a sweet or a toy when invited to do the reveal.

Here Comes Muffin

I did my last tour of the season  of my pop-up gallery the other weekend.
By special request I concentrated on two paintings where I had used the TV puppet, Muffin the Mule to represent  family members. As well as  the paintings I also showed  models, photographs, drawings and cultural references that I had used to inspire me.
'David's Journey' (you can see it on the PRINTS FOR SALE 'page on the website) was a picture about my brother being fifty and I used Muffin to represent him as he was an icon of the 1940s when David was born.
In 'Love That Dares' (can be viewed on the DISABLED VISITORS page) I  used Muffin and his friends in a very different way. Working on Darwin's theory that all animals (including humans) want to be the same as the rest of their species, I have tried to show what it is like to be different.

Memories Are Made Of This

I've just given a talk to the local Rotary Club about my painting 'Forget-Me-Nots'. As well as the picture I also took along the five suitcases of objects which inspired it.
I explained my ideas - that objects and images help to keep memories alive but also linked it to another experience I'd had  recently .
Having  taken some old photographs of the town centre to a residential home , one old lady's eyes sparkled as she remembered how she used to go to a particular cafe every Thursday with her mother for afternoon tea.
You can see my painting (I've just shut the pop-up gallery for the winter) on the ART LECTURES page on the website.