Bauhaus and the Bates Motel in New Jersey

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to visit friends based at the Princeton University Institute of Advanced Studies in the USA. I was expecting New Jersey to be a cross between a Bruce Springsteen song and The Sopranos but I had a surprise because it was beautiful. The university campus is anContinue reading “Bauhaus and the Bates Motel in New Jersey”

Self Portrait? I Don’t Think So!

  I admire professional artists’ models because they put up with a level of scrutiny that would terrify most people and that includes me. I rarely do a self-portrait because when I look into a mirror I see what I want to see, someone younger and thinner! Subjecting myself to the same level of objectiveContinue reading “Self Portrait? I Don’t Think So!”

Cwtching computer cat

It’s funny how cats choose their people. All the cats that have lived with us have preferred one more than the other. Little Ming has been Melvyn’s cat from the start; she follows him around and she’s especially clingy when he’s using his computer. She rolls about on his PC keyboard and pushes in betweenContinue reading “Cwtching computer cat”

Woollies Pigeons

I sometimes go for coffee to Waterstones bookshop in Swansea, where the cafe is upstairs opposite the old Woolworths store. After Woollies closed, the signage was colonised by pigeons; before that, the signs were always lit up and too hot for the pigeons to sit on.  I liked to sit in the big old windowContinue reading “Woollies Pigeons”

A classic nude

  Thursday night is life drawing night in this little corner of Wales and we’re lucky enough to have an excellent group of models to work with, all ages, all shapes. The drawing studio at Swansea Print Workshop isn’t very big and it’s often crowded out. Last night I sat on the floor to getContinue reading “A classic nude”

Scribbling skeletons at random

  Sometimes it’s good to just have a scribble  and see what happens. It becomes an automatic thing, undirected and not linked to what’s in front of your eyes. It’s a chance to feel the drawing medium under your fingers and feel how it moves across the paper. Yesterday was a bit manic; studio firstContinue reading “Scribbling skeletons at random”

Tiny Art in a Venetian Plastic Sphere

Had a week off and back to the studio today. Strangely I worked better this morning; I’m usually at my best after lunch. I’m a bit tired because we spent most of last week travelling, entertaining, running and digging and now it’s catching up with me. I spent my time finishing my entries for theContinue reading “Tiny Art in a Venetian Plastic Sphere”

Draw Draw Draw: Feet to the Fore

  Call me old-fashioned but I draw almost every day and I make no apologies for that. I believe that drawing underpins visual art and that all artists should draw regularly to constantly improve what we do. Sometimes at the end of a long day I don’t really feel like sketching and it’s more outContinue reading “Draw Draw Draw: Feet to the Fore”

Archaic Blue Photography [very artgeek stuff]

I don’t always work from drawings although 90% of my work, or more, is based on sketches. Sometimes I have a bit of a play with photographic imagery and translate it into various forms of printmaking – monotype, block, screen, photogravure and cyanotype.   Cyan is the colour blue and also the first four lettersContinue reading “Archaic Blue Photography [very artgeek stuff]”

A Little Black Panther and Pavlov’s Humans

Our lovely black tomcat, Bola, died a couple of years ago at the age of 19. He was an enormous sleek neutered tom and he looked like a scaled down black panther but he had the sweetest personality and loved food. He was a bit of a gourmet and I know you’re not supposed toContinue reading “A Little Black Panther and Pavlov’s Humans”