nobody here but us chickens.....

I spent some of yesterday sanding down and re-priming a couple of metre square canvases. The work on them was more than a year old, and part of a series that didn't quite hit the spot.

Not so long ago, I would have been really reticent about obliterating stuff that had taken a fair time to produce, but lately I have been embracing the cathartic elements of destroying old work.

There is some masochistic joy to be had in gleefully slapping white primer over carefully modulated brushstrokes, and the re-primed surface has a kind of two and a half 'D' ghost image, which is interesting to work on top of.

I'm hoping that a couple of ideas floating around in my head will come to fruition on these refreshed surfaces, a fair amount of development is needed, but they will be engaging if all goes well.

If you have a moment, and an interest in craft skills and/or poultry keeping, nip over to;

http://www.nicklyonsnorfolk.co.uk/

Nick is a fabulous craftsman, to whom I have a couple of coincidental connections.
Like me he is an artist, also like me he has had to embrace a little diversification in order to weather the vagaries of artistic fortune.
Now, even more strangely, he is a former Eastern Daily Press photographer who gracefully retired from the industry to pursue his painting.
Before you ask, yes, his last post was the Cromer office...........Fate?Coincidence?Dark Forces?, you decide.........

onwards

So, Open Studios is closed, so to speak.

I'm pleased to say that I had a good one. Around 250 visitors over the seventeen days, some interesting and interested people, and a good level of sales.......hurrah !
I even had a 'runner'.......that's someone who comes in and is frightened by the sheer level of filth on display, stays for no more than a minute, and immediately goes out through the door like a long dog.
I like that, it makes me feel like I'm getting it bang on right.

In other news, the Dark Princess, (my daughter), is more than halfway through her exam's and has also managed to get a pair of shoes for the Prom..........hurrah again !

That's all I have for you, except to say a big thank you to all of you who sent best wishes for the show, and even bigger love for those who were close enough to actually turn out and visit.

Off now to claim some spurious expenses from the public purse.
Later.

Hawt.....

.......that's the yard at the studio.

Great day today, lots of odds and ends done, drank beer outdoors with the fabulous two at lunchtime, (my landlady's), also my man Beachfreak nipped in to say hello.

The smells of hot sand and the sea, warm concrete and that odd 'green' odor that is as rare as the true early British summer day.

Under normal circumstances it's easy to let days like today pass by unremarked upon. Today I feel happy and content to be alive where I live, and lucky to be able to share it with my nearest and dearest.

this one..........

.........sold almost as soon as it was hung.........

................I wonder why.........?!!

Birthdays-n-stuff......

Sunday evening, on the beach, Bank Holiday Monday to follow........what's not to like ?

Some of you may be familiar with the Gingerwitch.....(pictured above paddling in the balmy North Sea).....but even if you 'aint, there is no doubting her skills.
The weather she ordered for her birthday was bright blue from dawn till dusk.
I think it would be foolish to let her keep any of your hair or nail clippings.

In other news, Open Studios has been going well. Two weeks of frantic activity to get it all ready, a fantastic opening do on Saturday the 16th, and lots of visitors since. Can't complain really, which brings me neatly to the end of this.

Love to all. xxx

My dog don't get enough.....

walks that is.

I need to motivate the brats to help out. Cash might help I suppose, but they did promise to help out if we got a new puppy..................I allowed myself to be deceived, 'cos I wanted another dog.
Another task for today's list then !

Dad jobs.....

We all know that Dad's bare the crushing weight of responsibility for their offspring with quiet dignity.
None more so than the figure in the painting above. I was watching and daubing away as he and his two small boys started the sandcastle.
Within ten minutes the famous North Sea 'fret' had crept up behind them, cold damp and visually disturbing.
After a further quarter of an hour, Mum whisked the youngsters off to the Beach Cafe for warming Tea and Bacon Sarnies.
He and I stuck at our tasks. Him, because he knew the sandcastle had to be complete before the tide got to it........I, in solidarity for his unflinching application to the task, finished my daub.
Twenty minutes passed, we exchanged a brief nod of shared recognition, and went our separate ways.