Some Offering

 I've been rereading my Mexican Day of the Dead book recently. I had originally used it for reference when painting 'Ofrenda' (you can see the picture on the PRINTS FOR SALE in my website)

I had made the painting to celebrate the life of my mother and always imagined the word ofrenda meant altar. However I was wrong. It means offering. It seems obvious really as in Mexican culture the relatives celebrate their loved ones by  laying out special foods and objects on a kind of altar.

I'm not about to change the title though  as my picture used the Mexican tradition as  only one of its influences and I think the two words are interchangeable anyway.

Guilty Secret

 I've noticed for a while, big packs of brushes and sponges in different shapes and sizes in the children's hobbies section of W.H. Smiths. Those sort of funny, stiff brushes  used for gluing.

 There aren't many shops open at the moment, and these packets were going down pretty quickly. Obviously, lots of people are doing more arts and crafts at the moment.

Although not  needed  for my current painting, I finally succumbed and bought a set before they had all gone.

 Sometime I want to do some free marking making experiments (I already have a set of wire brushes)  for a picture were chaos is an important feature. Dots, dashes, scratchy lines etc. are just what I'm looking for.

Smudge And Smear

 We've all been thinking  about bubbles recently, so maybe that's one of the reasons I decided to use them to depict the family in my new painting 'Momento Mori'  (see my blog  20/11/20)

I 've been trying to experiment with their translucency  and its very difficult. Sometimes the bubbles look more like coloured footballs even though they show parts of my Morris Minor behind.

In fact, the most successful are were I've painted a quick smudge and smear to create the illusion of a bubble rather than a long detailed analysis.

Perhaps thats the answer ?

You Did Ask Me

 I've recently been interviewed on a local radio station in connection to my appeal for NHS Charities Together. (it is now a podcast on  Cambridge 105 Radio) 

As well as been asked about my pop-up gallery and the Virtual Tour I was also thrown an interesting question at the end.

What advice would I give  young artists starting out on their profession? My answer was the same  I had given to a group of amateur painters when I opened their exhibition last year.

Don't make  selling work, the main focus of your endeavour. Do something else to pay the mortgage and bills. Then one is not  tempted to make work which will bring in the money and you are more willing to take risks and experiment further.