Last week we went to our local cinema to see a documentary film about the work of Anselm Kiefer.
I worked out that we are about the same age but there the similarity ends! In his work, Kiefer confronts his German heritage after the second world war in giant, monumental pieces using mixed media.
His studio reminds me of an aircraft hanger and he uses a bicycle to move around it!
The film 'Anselm' is a powerful insight into the way he works.
I'm now working on my new painting 'Old Wives Tales'. After making drawings of the dolls house from different angles and the messages pegged to a washing line, I've now collage them together.
You can see the results of these compositions on my latest Facebook and Instagram posts.
There will be five canvases, each one to represent my grandmother and her four sisters. They will be all linked visually by the washing line.
I'm so glad I got to see the 'Real Families: Stories of Change' exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum last week before it closed. There were some fascinating images of different sorts of families on display.
One image that caught my attention was 'Business Page' by photographer, Larry Sultain. You can see it on my latest Instagram post.
I was considering using the image of an old newspaper in a future painting and this was an unusual and telling way to convey information. My ideas are to muddled up to discuss now but we'll see how they sort themselves out in the coming year.
There's good news and other news.
The dates for my 80th birthday exhibition at the Norris Museum have been confirmed. 30th March - 22nd June. It's title is probably ' Every Object Paints A Picture - works by Ted Coney'
My painting 'DREAMTIME'' (pictured in my latest Instagram and Facebook posts) is one of the pictures chosen.
This is the same painting which has just been turned down by the Babylon Gallery for an exhibition celebrating Wicken Fen. Although in the early stages I made studies of the fens and collected plants for the painting I can quite see why it was rejected. All those memories of Lockdown are buried deep in the painting as the image of the disintegrating Victorian puppet theatre took over.
You can see the early stages of DREAMTIME on the THE COLLECTION page on my website.
Among my Christmas presents this year were some more objects for the dolls house.
From TVs to toilet roles, you can see them on my latest Facebook and Instagram posts.
This miniature house and its contents are going to feature again (last used about 20 years ago) in my latest painting 'Old Wives Tales', so maybe I'll make drawings of these new items soon.
