The Film Man

 I was very sad to hear that Colin Stevens had died. He was very talented in many ways but I knew him through the films he made for my pop-up gallery.

He edited bits of  super 8 cine and family videos together to produce a multi-layed film to show visitors when they arrived for their tour. ( you can see it on my YouTube channel, divided into four parts)

His film about my work, for Cambridge TV and a record of my stint as Artist in Residence at Ely Courthouse can still be seen in the Film/TV section of the NEWS AND REVIEWS page of my website.

Colin also devised my Virtual Tour and had lots of ideas of how to make it informative but not boring.

However, his crowning achievement for me was to come to the rescue on a Thunderbirds film I had been making with my six year old grandson. Technically it was a nightmare but Colin calmly took it on and saved it from failure. A true hero.

Drawn To War

 We've recently seen the documentary film 'Drawn To War' about the war artist, Eric Raviliou, at the cinema. It's well worth watching and really shows you how he developed his practise and  interacted with his circle of friends.

I'd already read the book on his life  by Helen Binyon, who had been asked to write it by his children   as she and Eric had been friends since their student days.

Helen was one of my tutors when I was at Bath Academy of Art some sixty years ago and wrote the book after she retired.

A Strange Mixture

     I've just been sticking up all my Artists and Cultural references on the easel in readiness to begin my next painting THE COUNSELLOR and what a strange mixture they make.

From Duchamp's The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors Even' through to Hockney's beach parasol and an illustration in the Sunday Times Money section of shopping trolleys falling off a cliff, they all inspire me in different ways.

You can see a photo  in my latest Facebook and Instagram posts.

Here Comes Muffin - Again!

 One of my most interesting Christmas presents was from my brother - a 1940s metal  Muffin the Mule puppet, complete with box and original packaging.

I had used Muffin to represent my brother in a painting called DAVID'S JOURNEY about thirty years ago and subsequently used the puppet again in two other paintings - LOVE THAT DARES and my latest,  DREAMTIME, which I have just finished.

Photos of the metal toy and a detail of the latest painting appear on  recent Facetime and Instagram posts.

I had already owned a   version of the puppet  (though not the box) which has been on display in my pop-up gallery for many years. This new one will be placed in an installation involving a labyrinth of mirrors. 

Winter Open

 To kick off the new year I've decided to submit one of my preliminary canvases to the Winter Open exhibition at the Babylon Gallery, Ely, which opens next week.

I've chosen one from the EGGHEADS series and you can see it on my latest Facebook and Instagram posts. I was experimenting with how to show brothers and half brothers , using different  styles of clown faces to represent various strands of the family.

I don't expect to sell as its an open submission and there will be hundreds of small pictures covering the walls.