Suffer For Art

I knew I had to make the nine close-up drawings of my Morris Minor before it went off for it's annual service, MOT and urgent attention to a  petrol leak. 

I needed the watercolour sketches so I could begin experimenting for my next painting 'Momento Mori' of which they will form an important part of the nine canvases

Although it was freezing cold weather, I steeled myself to make the studies, one a day, until they were finished. Each one took about 90 minutes  and I also got Hazel to photograph the same views so I had further reference.

The car passed it's MOT and the leak has been fixed, so I'm hoping to drive it a bit more in this, its 90th year.

Dance Of The Crazies

 My nephew heard what Hazel and I had been up to on New Years Eve and suggested that he would write a poem about it if I would make a sketch.

You can now see the results on my Facebook page - go to www.tedconeysfamilyportraits.co.uk and click the icon.

In Good Company

 To my delight,  Cambridge Independent newspaper have done a full page spread on my Virtual Tour this week, after all (opposite a full page article on the singer Olly Murs!).  There was a large image of me with my painting 'Dear Reginald Owen', a photograph  with the Morris and another detail of the painting.

It was seen by  Radio 105 who subsequently asked me to do an interview. With this new publicity, I have decided to extend the appeal for NHS Charities Together until the end of March, which will be a year since the pandemic started. 

Hopefully that will bring in more cash via the tour or donations.

Momento Mori

 I first thought of the idea for my new painting seventeen years ago when we were on a visit to the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver.

There was a canoe displayed with one persons lifetime treasures inside and apparently it stands as a kind of memorial for a their life. At the time I resolved that I would try and do something similar only I would swop the canoe for my 1931 Morris Minor!

Over the years that followed I've had several ideas how I could represent my life through objects which remind me of  family and feel I'm getting closer to what I want.

It's not that I think I'm going to die anytime soon, it's just that the Morris will be 90 years old this year and I want to mark that in some way.

Forever Christmas

 I've just displayed three new Christmas presents - a board game, a bowl of nuts and a black cat.

They have gone into the dolls house, which seems  to have evolved over the years into an art installation. Since I first started collecting items  to use in my painting 'Fools Gold' (which you can see in the PRINTS FOR SALE section of my website) I have used the house and its contents several times. Most recently in 'The Rashomon Effect' which can be viewed in the CONTACT US section. You can also see photographs of the actual house on my Facebook page

With  tree,  lights, decorations and wrapped presents, it is Christmas waiting to happen.