Proposition (Cherry; Raspberry) iii

Another miserable day weather-wise, the complete opposite of the spirit of this painting, Summery and playful.

Added more layers today and attended to the edges of the colours, although I am waiting for the central stripe to dry (pink with blue) before I fill in the remaining white. Although not shown in this photo, I have now filled in the top left of this painting which unfortunately overlaid some delicate blue pink crystals - which is why I am being careful to preserve them in the centre, if possible.

Working in this way one is never fully in control so you have to be prepared to accept the changes as they occur. I've tried to adopt an improvisational frame of mind working on this piece to bridge the gap between experiment and control - not an easy balance but at the moment I think things are developing well: I get a certain charge when looking at this painting, showing some of the possibilities of cherry and raspberry in terms of colour and texture. The salt both preserves and crystalizes - in many senses of this word.

This is the first fruit painting I've made which fully draws on my previous fascination with geologic-type layering. I'm particularly interested in what happens at the edges of the layers, the connecting 'micro' layers with their small details - food for 'small looking' (more of which later).

Proposition (Cherry; Raspberry) ii

Typically uninspiring English weather this Monday; a constructive day nevertheless.

Spent the morning planning out the Fine Art stage 1 Critical Studies programme with my colleague Sarah. We are trying to get the balance right between covering what we believe to be important areas (politics, semiology, feminism, psychoanalysis etc.) while appreciating that many students are encountering these topics for pretty much the first time. Lectures therefore need to be broad and inspiring without compromising the complexities that arise. Not easy, but I believe we made some progress.

Especially in our discussion of Prog Rock*.



Added some more to the painting and noticed that crystals didn't begin to form until around 12.30pm i.e. about twenty four hours from initial making (see below) -which goes to show that even with central heating, these things can't be hurried.



Looking forward to adding more lines to complete the surface when the first ones have dried.



*BBC recently screened a program on so-called 'Prog Rock' which we both enjoyed but found rather contentious.

Proposition (Cherry; Raspberry)

Above is the prepared canvas, primed with a white emulsion/pva mix, with diagonal strips of faun matt paper, photo gloss paper and some yellow cartridge paper glued to the surface. The joins are unimportant as my intention is to eventually cover the entire canvas in fruit/salt solution.




Here are the initial stages of painting; I'm using dark cherry and two varieties of raspberry: one redish and one with a more pinkish hue (at least when wet). I'm going to allow these first applications to begin to dry before adding more material, this evening or tomorrow.

Culturally, cherries and raspberries are an unusual combination - not impossible to assemble, but like most fruits each having its own separate world.

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Talking of unusual combinations here's 'Stardust' and 'Black Coffee' by the lovely Sarah Vaughan being stirred together in the cup of chance by Jim Andrews: Stardust & Black Coffee

Auger

Well June (Joon) melted into July melting into August.

Teo arrives next week and I can't wait.

Been ill for a sustained period now -but thankfully feeling better even as I type. Going to do a Lightning Technique course soon, so will report on its effects. Have noticed good quality of sleep really makes a positive difference. This year has been a slog, though, so far.

Degree Show has been and gone, but with a group of students continuing to show their work at the DegreeArt.com gallery, 30 Vyner Street, London from 6th to 16th August. Go and see some beautiful work.

Have had many more submissions from Consemblers including Ted Houghtaling, Emma Payne from fedbybirds, Steve Moshier (excerpts from his 'Brief Encounters'), Cem Gurney, Jukka-Pekka Kervinen and Dave Dellafiora: 'Hi Paul, you should get the cd in a few days as it was sent last week. As I said before please feel free to cut the music up. The method used was one I copied from one of the autistic guys I work with, playing youtube with a number of windows open, all playing at once and rolling back the sound almost like scratching effect.'

-and more, with more sounds promised!



Painting has focussed on exploring the effect of using different papers (often to make birthday cards for family and friends). Have recently been using gloss printing papers and matt card with cherry, raspberry, blackberry and strawberry salt solutions. In fact, I'm all ready to go with a prepared canvas this evening. In fact, the reason I am writing this blog is to escape from the noise of kids outside my flat so I can pass the time until they disperse. In fact, they're gone now...

Joon

Bed, 2009

Colour gamut

Strawberry field

Elected to Vote

Went to vote today just as the weather improved. It has been can'tsleep hot but was forecast to be averagejune cold. So the sunlight streamed through the Karate Club voting hall as the tumbleweeds blew across my path. Apart from the administrators there was no one else there - it actually felt as if I was the only St Thomas resident who was going to mark his X. I toyed with the Greens but finally went with the Reds, if only because it looks as if the simplistic media presentation is going to swing a Labour 'meltdown' from a reactionary public at a time when we should be questioning rightwing Capitalist thinking rather than the presentation skills of Gordon B.

It saddens me to see a BNP rep for Europe on a Ballot paper, especially in Devon.

The focus has been removed from its rightful position - the examination of the raw greed of the very rich and the desperately poor quality of management (outside of government) that pervades this country and beyond.