Which one?

I touched this work up a little with some very dark pigment - I felt the tyres were too dark and there wasn't enough bits of really dark pigment in the rest of the painting.
This painting is almost done - I still want to work in some more colour and tighten up the figure and decoration on her clothing.

I'm sitting with a quandry. I'm entering one painting into an exhibition in America and I have to choose between these two. I've already made a tentative choice of the Seagull painting, but I'd love it if everyone could vote for their choice.

Character Destruction

Reality TV has never been a favourite for me, but something that's really getting up my nose at the moment is this pendemic of renovating people, their clothing and their houses.

What bothers me incessantly is all the colourful characters we grew up with being told what not to wear... You know the characters? The middle aged teacher with trousers pulled a little too high over the waist, the granny with purple hair and the most striking nylon floral number that makes you turn back and look twice...

I learnt a fair amount of tolerance while studying. I've never been able to embrace kitsch, but I've learnt that it is a style taken on by many to express their personalities. When you start messing with what people choose to be seen in and what they choose to surround themselves with, well - let me just say it's like using dirty water when you paint with watercolours. You just can't do it. Watercolour is a very sensitive medium and it's essential to have clean water to mix crisp colours. I really believe the same applies to people and what and who they are.

Sod the perfection! Embrace the kitsch and dowdy and unflattering styles. Not everybody is going to have an attractive facade that is permanently photogenic and the most homely and comfortable homes that people love to visit seldom look like the interior magazines or programmes we're regularly bombarded with.

To me the most amazing experience I have ever had is meeting a strange looking chap with very thick Clark Kent glasses. He was gawky and skinny and I would never have used any favourable words to describe his appearance. His mouth was slightly droopy from an accident or stroke, I can't really recall. The odd thing was when he spoke, it was as though his appearance completely transformed. He had the most amazing sense of humour with an intelligence that usually accompanies wit void of sarcasm and abuse. He had us all in stitches and it was a lesson for me to avoid passing judgement at the superficial level of appearance. I like people the way they are - warts and all... tee hee - I can say that now 'cos my wart is gone!

I want to see less attempts to fix what society has deemed as "wrong" and I want to see more bumpy noses, buck teeth, large ears and double chins on TV. I want to see people with frizzy hair and the occasional pimple. I love to go into South African homes with horrendous copies of Tretchikof - yes Professor Cull I WANT TO SEE TRETCHIKOF!!! So there! Let us laud Rubens and his voluptuous women and let's all make our own rules about beauty, fashion and interior decorating. Wouldn't that be amazing?

I had to laugh at an interview I saw on TV once. I can't remember what the programme was, but the interviewer was speaking to kids that dressed in the whole goth style. When the interviewer asked why they dressed like that, the kid said "Because it's different, unique." I had to chuckle as the camera swung to about 25 other "unique" kids.

Embrace the ski ramp nose! Celebrate the snake eyes or skinny snake lips! Rejoice in the wide hips that may well have come from a tribe of nomads travelling through the desert (There's a radio ad about that in case you're confused).

Let's keep characters alive in spite of media trying so hard to destroy them.

By the way - a word to the wise, if you're ever in South Africa and someone accosts you about having a make over, say no immediately. Even in my uneducated and biast opinion I recognise that our makeover teams would probably make a lot more money by doing make unders...

Saturday Morning

First of all, I just need to say a really big thank you to those comments I've received about the artwork. I really do appreciate it. I have an objective for my artwork and it's very hard to stay focused when it takes so long and when people around me keep trying to distract me by insisting I have exhibitions. I'm trying to build a portfolio of work to submit to publishing companies and have prints made. It's a long process because of how incredibly slowly I work. So I've sat down and thought about ways to improve the process. I decided to work on more than one painting at a time. This way, when I hit "the wall" with one work, I can work on another in the mean time and be more effecient. The best laid plans... I'll be sure to let you know how that works!

The next thing I wanted to say is I'm on dial-up, and I end up having very little time to actually work on the net. (Well, let me put it this way, I can do a load of laundry, wash the dishes and probably put make up on - except I don't wear the stuff... while I wait for the next page to load up!) So, I'm not exactly a pro at blogging and I want to link everyone's blog to mine, but um... er I haven't figured out how to do that yet. So be patient, I'll get there.

And now for the idle drivle or is that drivell?

I watched Iron Man against my better judgement... I love comics that have been converted into movies. I sit and watch while Richard points out all the legistical impossibilities of whatever happens. Ever heard of "suspend your disbelief" honey? Oh, my goodness I can't bare watching a movie when someone is yacking... Anyway, back to the movie. So, I really, REALLY don't like Robert Downey Jnr. This is the principal reason for me avoiding a movie I would normally rush out and see. Have you ever noticed how some men just cannot at any point in their lives wear a goatie? I would have to say that despite impeccable manicuring by a very talented make-up and hair stylist, RDJ cannot and will never be able to pull of a goatie. No sirree. So, that being one of the minor irritations, the major annoyance being RDJ's presence in the movie - I could think of a few people who would have pulled off a better performance. That being said, I really enjoyed the rest of the movie. Jeff Bridges is such a good bad guy and even Gwynnie Paltrow with all her faux freckles pulled off a convincing character portrayal.

The New Work

Well, you don't have a picture of the new painting, because I painted over it tonight! Last night I spent four hours painting and stood back and looked at the work. I knew immediately that it just didn't work and I needed to do something about it or it would bother me incessantly. So, I left it last night, thinking about the painting and what I could do to solve it. I came up with an epiphany today at work as I doodled in my book. I knew exactly how to resolve 2 of the compositional dilemma's with one blow. So tonight I fixed up an old painting and started work on the new one, covering up all my hard work from last night. You would think I would feel some remorse about that, but actually I don't.
Somebody once said that at times, you have to produce bad art to get to the good art. I suppose it's much the same as a sports person having a bad day. So, I'm really thrilled to be moving in a direction that seems to be veering toward completion. I'm already formulating designs and ideas for the next work. I think I'm going to invest in the really expensive cotton paper, since it is heavenly to work on.
This week I've been looking at the paintings and contemplating that saying: "A bad craftsman blames his tools". What a laugh! Whoever came up with that saying was quite clearly an accountant. Or a lawyer. Definitely not somebody who works with tools at all. I can quite honestly say that the difference between paper that costs R150/sheet and paper that costs R50/sheet is so enormous, you'd have to be blind and void of all sense of touch not to notice. I used the best quality acrylic paint for the first time 10 months ago, and I'm absolutely certain an orchestra appeared from nowhere and began a thundering chorus of Beethoven's 9th symphony in my ear. While the neighbours may find the occasional burst of the choral symphony rather annoying, I now completely expect it as I open the tube of gleaming white and mix it into the cheaper colours sprawled across my palette. I work meticulously in colour code - my palette looks like an acrylic rainbow apart from the ochres, umbers and siennas! And the effect when the magnificent and expensive acrylic hits the canvas is truly magical.
I'm inclined to be secretive about my response to art. I once revealed to someone that certain paint texture is so appealing that it makes my mouth water. Well, you'd think I told the person some hideously grotesque confession and they've not quite gotten over it - they still give me the scardey cat eyeball!
But there are most definitely tools that enhance an artists talents enormously. The art shop that I purchase my materials from is a really amazing little place. It belongs to an artist and her husband. She's a genial little lady with pale skin and short red hair. She wears glasses and has that marvelous flat eastern cape accent that makes everyone else shiver! She spends most of her time in baggy clothing with the occasional paint smattering. She's wonderful and freely dispenses advice and discounts to cash paying clients. She calls me the Paper Lady, since I've never really bought much else. I didn't think I had that much stock of paints, but evidently I do. Her husband is also a short middle aged man with a slight stoop. He is an American and is seldom in the shop. I surmise that he comes and takes over when she's busy or out. The shop is at the front of their house - to say that I could spend the day in there would really be a gross understatement of the truth. My point is (finally) I was chatting to the husband one day and asking him about better quality oils. He gave me the run down and then his countenance darkened as he lowered his voice.
"Now this is the good stuff," he seemed to transform magically before my eyes into a shady figure with a trench coat, "But you really don't wanna start using this," his American drawl continued, "It's like heroin, once you start you can't stop." Since I'm not on the drug scene, I have no idea what they go for, but R200/tube certainly sounded like a heck of an expensive habit for me start.

The New Painting

This is the middle stage of the new painting - I don't suppose it's a good idea to show it, since it'll probably change a lot before it's finished, but here it is.

Quick Exhibition - Just Checking 2 C if everyone's awake!

Quick Exhibition