Owner: ShirleyBodArt URL:http://www.shirleybodart.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:30:43 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Are you certifiably mad about art? You want honest opinions and are fed up with the bullsh*t brigade who alienate so many of us? Then this is definitely the blog for you! Site statistics:Click here
Corel Unveil Painter X 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Painter Power?Hi all,Just a quick(ish) word to mention this week's new release of Corel
Painter X. Anybody who's ever used Corels superlative painting software to recreate natural media will know that no other painting software comes even close Yes I know Adobe Photoshop is probably the industry leader in photographic and image manipulation. However, when it comes to the business of replicating oils, acrylics or pastels (to mention just a few) Painter is the natural choice for artists, illustrators and anyone wishing to unleash their creative talents via the PC.Anyway, I've just downloaded the free 30 day trial (I just love trying out new software!) and I'll let you know exactly what I think in the very near future! If you fancy trying it yourself (Go on, give it a bash) simply follow this link to the Corel download page… Corel Painter X have fun. I know I will!Catch you laterShirley Read more:Painter
Critics Indignant Over Kylie! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 We Should Be So Lucky!Hi all,Oh dear me, it seems our elitist friends are at it again. Talons out (hissy fits aplenty!) Heaping bilious remarks over the V&A's decision to hold an exhibition which focuses's on (horror of horrors) Kylie
Minouge's costumes throughout her career. My God, will civilization as we know it ever be the same again? C'mon, I'm not exactly a huge Kylie fan but compared to some of the warped, talent free cr*p hoisted upon us by the anointed few I'm willing to give our antipodean cousin the benefit of the doubt.Chief Kylie critic is Stephen Bayley (The Observer's architecture critic and a design "expert') who questions whether such an exhibition is fitting for such a prestigious venue. "I am conflicted about this,' he admitted. 'If they are going to put Kylie's dresses in the chamber of horrors that is one thing, but if it is to be a mute celebration of the life of a celebrity, then it is not such a worthy thing.' … Oh Stephen how very drol
That Home Moving Feeling 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Get me out of Here!Hi all, Well, after much consideration, contemplation and um, gnashing of teeth the decision has been made… we're finally moving house! Packing up and setting off to pastures greener. Out and hopefully up as a new chapter beckons. So, here I am (Yes I know, I know I look tired and FED UP!) As you do when you're in the midst of your own self made bombsite, don't you just love it? Surrounded (entombed) by all our collective clutter (So, where exactly does it all come from, surely somebody could write a book called the collective clutter theory?) Yeah, that look on my face just about sums it up (Beam me up pronto Mr. Scott!)Alas events have left precious little time for painting or any such aesthetic pursuits. The "things to do' list grows and grows, already reading like the manifest for a small scale invasion. And, no matter how diligently I seem to plan I just can't shake off this lingering fear that I've forgotten something of absolutely seismic impor Read more:Moving
, Feeling
Dog Collection auctioned by Sotheby's 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Not such a Shaggy Story Hi all,So, something that in a cynical world brings a much needed slice of hope. The above pictures of dogs are by stars ranging from Ricky Gervais to Paul McCartney. All inspired by a picture of a dog drawn on a scrap of paper by a five-year-old boy Jensen Parsons, which he named Boil(top left) for his stepfather Simon Freedman.Now, Simon 40, an osteopath (whose patients include a clutch of A-list celebs), hung the picture on the wall of his swanky London practice and before he knew it stars aplenty were queuing up to do their own versions. Thus from such small acorns… Simon then contacted Great Ormond Street Hospital with the his grand idea which has ended with theses pictures being auctioned off at Sotheby
's to raise funds for the hospital. Follow this story in detail at http://www.dogproject.co.uk/As I've always said, you just can't make this up. Great Stuff!Catch you laterShirley
Impressionism without a Modern Edge! 2007-03-08 00:50:00 the Violin no.3At a time when our ludicrous art establishment genuflects at the poisoned alter of the talent free zone of Gilbert & George (has the world gone mad!) It’s a pleasure indeed to cast weary eyes upon someone with a genuine artistic gift. Andrei Filipovich is a contemporary Impressionist. Some might say an old school artist. A painter who produces’s an evocative series of rich, succulent oil paintings. No hint here of the phony satire or subtle subtexts too often the perquisite of so much ‘edgy art’. Instead we find fuel for the heart and food for the eye. Painting we can both appreciate and enjoy without feeling guilty that in so doing we become less intellectually enlightened!Andrei seems a man of few words (if his blog is anything to go by) an artist who allows his art to do the talking. That's fine, refreshing perhaps, but I do confess to a slight frustration at so little insight into this obviously gifted painter. C'mon Andrei...just a few words of wisdom! And Read more:Modern
Golden Age of Bullshit! 2007-03-13 21:40:00 Cultures Real Vulture?Nearly a week has passed since Tony Blair’s cringe inducing ‘Golden
Age of Art’ speech at the Tate modern. In typical New Labour style he stole the clothes, hijacked the moment and used the arts as shield to his countless failings as Prime minister. Oh Tony did you think that a few ill chosen lines aimed at the intellectual vanity of the anointed few would heal a decade of artistic reticence?Reaction since then has been mixed as spin and flannel flog the issue to a timely death. The most interesting opinion (as always) comes via the countless blog entries and their thought provoking comments. Here are two which reflect a certain (though not necessarily my own) dissatisfied ‘perspective’…“Art is fine but it doesn't stop people getting shot, bombed, gassed, incinerated and generally physically rearranged on a massive scale simply for being in a country that we wish to control. Some might even say that an increased interest in the arts is part of the g Read more:Bullshit
, Golden Age
Painted People Power 2007-03-16 23:51:00 On the Wild Side Check this one out. Boo Ritson is an artist who takes real people, covers their faces, hair and clothes in a thick impasto of wet paint (as above) and then discusses the results in a diatribe of ‘artspeak’. Well OK, I admit that my first impression was “Jesus, not more Britart bullshit! Served up with dollops of modern artist mantra and ‘over egged’ justification” But to be fair, (yes I do try to be!) the more I looked the more intrigued I became with her rather bizarre creations. In fact I found myself (dare I say it) quite liking them!No, this doesn’t mean I’ve sold my soul to Saatchi and now sup virgin’s blood with Damian Hurst and company. It’s just that occasionally I see an idea that seems to suggest an ‘ah ha’ moment. Something that’s capable of being a little odd but doesn’t insult (or assault) my eyes. I like the notion of transforming people, of making them look like paintings. There’s something rather childlike, even naïve in t Read more:Painted
Has Tracey Emin Got Your Wallet? 2007-03-21 00:56:00 Well, here we go again with another slice of well baked ‘pie in the sky’. To mark the 60th anniversary of Arts Council England our ‘National Treasure’ Tracey
Emin (yep, she of the unmade bed and other ‘worthy’ wonders) has designed a wallet for commuters featuring her cat Docket (Dockets the one pictured on the right!)to be used for train and bus passes due to be distributed in the streets of Brighton on March 22. Of course they will all be ‘free’ and yes of course luv it’s all being done for our benefit as part of the Art in Your Hand project. Which in turn will so spectacularly succeed in driving us proles in our droves into the hallowed temples of Britart up and down the nation? Yeah, just watch out for the rush as we Brits go wild over our lass Tracey!Let’s be real here. The only significant wallet in this whole sad story is the increasingly fat one belonging to Emin and her talentless Britart cohorts! Oh and not forgetting that ever decreasing wallet belonging
Miracle Girls ‘Magic’ Flowers 2007-03-22 19:03:00 What a courageous little girl five-year-old Sophie Delezio is. After enduring so much she adds a fresh chapter to her modern-day miracle as one of her paintings titled Flowers
(above) joins other works of art to be auctioned for the benefit of the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme.In December 2003 Sophie and her friend Molly Wood suffered terrible injuries when a car smashed into their day care centre. Sophie lost an ear, fingers and both feet. Then, in May last year, unbelievably a car knocked her down as her nanny pushed her in a pram across a pedestrian crossing! Through of all this five-year-old Sophie has captured hearts and amazed people across the world by smiling her brave, most captivating smile.Life affirming magic indeed. Isn’t the very sight of this brave little girl enough to put the problems of the daily drudge into its correct perspective? And don’t such stories always act as tonic to take away that ‘rat race’ stench so all consuming in our modern life!Cat Read more:Girls
, Magic
'Journeys End' Is My New Beginning 2007-03-24 18:56:00 Well, after weeks of artistic ‘hibernation’ I’ve finally kicked my creative arse back into gear and here is the result. I call it ‘Journeys
End’ which seems not only an appropriate title for the above work but also an apt metaphor for my own recent quest to find somewhere we could at last call home. So, house moving stuff aside, I can at last let loose a long sigh and look forward to wallowing in my creative juices. (The proverbial pig in pooh no less!)Once again I’ve continued with my preoccupation (obsession!) with skies. I just luv em! They’re so expressive, vibrant and alive. They warm the soul, sooth the eyes and add a healthy dollop of colour into a sometimes monotone world. Allied with an African theme they make for the perfect visual setting.Again I’ve used a panoramic box canvas 48"x16"(I’m really falling in love with these) they’re absolutely brilliant for creating that whole wide open vista effect; you know the ‘Out of Africa’ look!System 3Acrylics re Read more:New Beginning
Painting on a Knife’s Edge 2007-03-26 21:33:00 Hi all,I often get that urge to surf the web on an impulse. Click from site to site. Always hoping to uncover (in a sea of senseless bullsh*t) …well, you know, a nugget or two of inspiration. Perhaps that little spark of creative zest I might care to bookmark. Then one lucky click and Walla! So, If you like raw, spontaneous oil painting loaded with atmosphere and able to evoke a genuine sense of place then you’ll enjoy the work of Chris Geall Chris comes from Whitby, North Yorkshire, a fact made evident as you gaze at his landscapes dripping with seasonal scenes of rustic power. Created with dexterous strokes of the palette knife (his favored tool) he appears to be at one both with his subject and with his chosen medium. These are painterly images. Carved, almost sculptured onto the canvas with an accomplished hand evoking what an equally discerning eye dictates.These paintings stand up for themselves without recourse to repellent undercurrents or a ‘smack you in the face’ assa Read more:Painting
, Knife
The Face of Feminism? 2007-03-26 18:20:00 Roberta Smith writing in the New York Times poses the question ‘is there such a thing as feminist art?’ Commenting on the ‘Global Feminism
s’ exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum Roberta poses some interesting (and perhaps long overdue) questions as she probes a subject not without it’s umm, controversial elements!Personally I dislike ‘isms’ almost as much as I loath most kinds of labels. To pigeon hole something is to limit it or to stamp upon it some manner of maker’s seal of approval. Of course there is plenty of art influenced by feminine thinking just as there is art inspired by love and sex. Yet we don’t refer to such as sex or love art or perhaps lovism!However this is not to decry the quality nor the impact of much of the art featured. Some of these images (which includes the above work from the disturbing "Bind" series of 2001 by Ryoko Suzuki) brilliantly succeed in shocking the onlooker which in turn acts to focus our attention on an issue too readily swept from
One up on Picasso! 2007-03-28 21:02:00 Hi all,With my painting hat firmly on and trademark dungarees again caked in paint the artistic muse seems once again to be in full flow! So, with all caution abandoned I today launched into the joy of abstract painting. Now here I have a confession to make…I’ve never painted an abstract painting. (Gasps from the auditorium!) Yes, I‘ve made regular incursions into the realms of semi-abstract but until today I’ve never gone the full Monty. Still, is that such a surprise? After all Picasso
went his whole career without painting a single abstract picture (Yes really). Um, suppose I should savor this moment knowing that for the only time in my artistic career I’ll be one up on Picasso!In truth I’ve never been able to cast off the desire to be representational. My paintings always needed to tell a story, to evoke a scene in my minds eye. Much as I loved the great abstract masters I bolted at the notion of letting go and applying my self purely to the harmony of colour and the rh
Plaudits for Arts Phony Duo 2007-03-28 19:24:00 Hi all,Ever had the feeling that you’ve woken up in some bizarre parallel dimension where the laws of reality, common sense and yes, good taste, have not only been turned upside down but actually tossed away all together? Then welcome to the sanity free, indeed unsanitary, world of Gilbert and George (above). A realm where images of excrement and profanity are hailed as possessing an oracle like insight into our troubled Eden!Here you can attempt (if your stomach allows) to explain the avalanche of praise heaped upon this humourless ‘couple’ by an art world so corrupted by it’s own rotting values that it can no longer detect the stench of decay under it’s own nostrils!Gilbert and George (as well as being performance ‘artists’) have been presenting their phony photographic montages for far, far too long. With their pathetic parade of vacuous ‘artwork’ they have hoodwinked the art establishment and succeeded in their dubious quest to become the darlings of the London ar
Has the Abstract Bug Bitten? 2007-03-31 22:21:00 Hi all,Has the abstract bug bitten? Um, I think that’s a distinct possibility! In my post on Wednesday (One up on Picasso!) I confessed that I’d never before ventured into the hallowed realms of the abstract. So of course now there’s nothing to stop me. The ice is broken; the ideas are flowing and whilst I doubt if it will become my predominant style I shall none the less embrace it with gusto!So, here is abstract number two. The aptly named Cubes. Or perhaps Cubes in blocks of hot coloured hues. It echoes my love affair with red as I seek to create a series of multiple colour planes. Each a self contained frame, a building block supporting its neighbour. Certainly restrained as the boxes are compressed within the picture plane dynamic. Does this invoke a degree of tension or does it perhaps suggest a feeling of reassurance as solid almost phalanx like ranks reinforce our sense of security?This is the beautiful nature of the abstract. It can appeal simply and directly to the aest Read more:Abstract
Does He Ignore The Money? 2007-03-31 17:19:00 Hi all,Mr. Damien Hurst (our leading ‘Britart icon’ pictured above) was quoted as saying “I always ignore money” (well, of course you do Damien!) Doesn’t this strike anyone else as a slightly curious statement for a man who only last year joined the Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of 100 million pounds?($197 million) Still, perhaps no more curious than the continued pursuit of one multi million pound commission after another by a man so careful to cultivate his ‘cor blimey’ (I’m one of the lads) street image. Yeah Damien, roll on the revolution.Look, I’ve absolutely nothing against wealth nor the pursuit of the capitalist ideal (please, show me the money!) However, what does bug me big time are these wanabe ‘social outsiders’ with their oh so edgy, we’re on the margins of society routine. They whimper their phoney contempt for the whole capitalist gravy train, affecting a camaraderie with the downtrodden and a loathing for all things materialist Read more:Ignore
, Money
EBays Me Page Ploy 2007-04-02 22:15:00 Hi all,Busy day in multi-tasking mode. Well, you have to be a veritable jack of all trades if you stand a snowballs chance in hell of cutting it these days on the net. As well as painting and all associated prep, there’s the photography. Snap, snap... umpteen angles to exploit every one of my paintings full potential before finally presenting them to Photoshop for yet more finishing touches, resizing and web readiness. Then there’s uploading them all to my EBay listings where I agonize over every tiny element of the presentational jig saw. Bread & butter issues concerning the auction details or perhaps a ‘buy it now’ etc, etc phew! And somewhere in-between (um, if I’m very lucky) I get to flex (as with the above EBay Me Page banner) my graphics skills with a little fun in Photoshop.Anyone selling on EBay soon discovers a distinct disadvantage when attempting to entice people to your off EBay sites (such as this blog!) namely EBay does not allow external links from its listin
Sunkist Set to Sizzle! 2007-04-05 22:32:00 Hi all,Does the mood you’re in always reflect (to some greater or lesser degree) the subject you choose? Of course there are times when your choice might be totally at odds with your frame of mind. If perchance the blue moods threaten I reject that urge to immerse myself in somber hues and themes suggesting some darker aspect.Better by far to revel in a…Flow of glowing colours.Brilliant redsDazzling yellowsCrisp and effervescent shades… Today the sunshine danced; yes it did and I delighted in the radiance that seemed to pour from my creative id. The midday heat, the sizzle seemed to suggest a painting of fiery tones. So Sunkist (24"x30" box canvas) seemed a perfect phrase, an apt enough title for an abstract work inspired in the haze on an early April noon. And yes, I must confess, I 'm pleased as punch with the result!Here’s to early summer days. Warm and hazy but never lazy. Here’s to clear blue skies and those quiet corners where our muse might bring us… the gift of ins
Queen Insists…It’s Turner! 2007-04-05 18:23:00 Hi all, Let’s hear it for Queen
Liz (Hip...Hooray!) From genuine art lovers across the realm a thousand thankyou’s for insisting that JMW Turner
represent Britain at the Capolavori dell’ Arte Europea (Masterpieces of European Art) exhibition in Rome. There is a God after all! This exhibition celebrates 50 ‘glorious’ years of the European Union to which end 27 heads of state were asked their choice of artwork to represent their respective nations.Apparently our Queen was most adamant about her choice; one that I doubt would have been shared by our self serving Art Establishment. Left to them we doubtless would have sent any number of Britart creations ranging from effluent smeared installations to frozen genitals!Thus Tate Britain duly chose ‘The Arrival of Louis-Philippe at Portsmouth, 1844’ (above) which had long been thought to depict a scene from Venice but four years ago was actually discovered to show the arrival of the French “Citizen King” to visit Queen Victor
Redspin Really Rocks! 2007-04-07 19:16:00 Hi allYeah I know, the abstract bandwagon just keeps on a rolling! With copious crimson’s and an imagination fed on Stephen King and hard rock music my mind is simply… um, a little blown away! Well, sometimes it’s fun to just…LET GO!!You know the feeling? Go where the mood, the flow takes you. Sometimes your art can just slowly ssssslide into a so so rut, a trap, a mediocre manor of your own making. Keep churning out the same safe stuff until…OK, don’t worry I’m not about to renounce all things sane and embrace some hideous retro art movement. I fully intend to create plenty of luscious landscapes, sizzling sunsets and a myriad mouth watering African panoramas. However (and it has to be said) it’s refreshing, rewarding and absolutely reinvigorating to embrace a big healthy dollop of the new.So art lovers, here’s Redspin (Acrylic 24"x30"on box canvas) today’s labor of love and another very, very rewarding piece to ‘work’ on. Sometimes a painting like this seems Read more:Rocks
Crucifixion Scenes in Art 2007-04-07 19:02:00 Hi all,With Easter Sunday almost upon us it seemed umm… an apt time to peruse suitable imagery to reflect this moment in the Christian calendar. Well it seems the National Gallery has aired a few of their gems in a series of 12 pictures called Crucifixion
scenes in art which you can see at the Guardian Unlimited website. Featuring the likes of El Greco and Michelangelo, to name but a few.My personal favourite is Christ Mocked (The Crowning with Thorns) by Hieronymus Bosch (c1490-1500) Anyone familiar with Bosch’s work will know he was a particularly gruesome fellow who usually glorified in all manner of medieval torture and depictions of hell, fire and brimstone. (So, basically like most of today's TV Soaps!) However, here we see a more restrained, indeed moving scene as Christ (surrounded by his tormentors) gazes, almost with a hint of reflective irony, out at us as though to convey the unimportance of his physical torments.But what I really like about this painting is the way
Composer Slates Labour Over Arts! 2007-04-12 23:01:00 Hi all,Did you see Scottish composer Peter Maxwell Davies scathing assault on the British government accusing them of ignoring the importance of serious art, literature, and music (as if they would!) just days after the director of the National Gallery did the same? Davis said… “Keeping people in a state of ignorance is good for the government in power - it precludes the possibility of articulate criticism, induces political apathy, and its by-product is a frustration which bursts forth into seemingly mindless, unmotivated violence."Where did all that New Labour
love go!OK, so I don’t agree with the ‘unmotivated violence’ angle (There is no exscuse!) However I applaud and agree with every thing else he says. You don’t have to be chapter and verse familiar with Orwell’s 1984 to realize the dangers of subverting a population’s ability to think, question and articulate their grievances with the powers that be. We all of us, as citizens in an open society, have to be forev
Me of Many Parts 2007-04-14 19:53:00 Hi all,Sometimes it’s just way too easy to ssslide completely into being totally absorbed in your art. I mean really transfixed to the point of near addition. (Cue splashed cold water over the face and a spell of cold turkey to boot!) Perhaps time to allow the creative id some R&R and a chance to simply…play. Perchance cast off those stern shackles of perfectionism and maybe…Take it easy!Pamper the child within, relax and simply chill out… OK I’m sure you get the picture. So basically it’s time to doodle, experiment and sharpen up a few other skills at the same time. Which leads me to my little montage (above, which I produced using Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter) this was a composite of me. Me in action. Me close up and in the fray. Multi tasking multi-purpose ShirleyBod! If you want to get noticed on the web then sometimes you need to jettison subtle and think showy…think eye grabbing.Now it must be obvious to anyone whose seen and read about my work that I love w Read more:Parts
RedSquare Struts it's Stuff! 2007-04-15 20:59:00 Hi all,OK comrades, so it might not be the most subtle title in the world but it did seem a very apt one considering I was watching Dr Zhivago when it was painted! I know, it was really far too nice a day to be stuck indoors wielding a loaded brush. But if I must be inside I do demand that I have my little diversions. Sometimes I like loud pulsating rock music and on other occasions I like um… soppy movies with gallons of gooey sentiment.RedSquare (Acrylic 24"x30"on box canvas) definitely has echoes of Cubes (one of my recent abstract undertakings) and again I’m drawn to this desire to convey radiating heat by combining reds and yellows.Again I’ve used a series of compartmentalized areas to create a sense of a fractured picture plane. I’m not sure if I’ve been completely successful but I ‘m pleased with the overall result.This type of painting forces me to be disciplined. Yeah, I have fun and often allow the composition to simply follow a natural flow but as I wrote a coupl
So Who is Worth £30 Million? 2007-04-18 22:42:00 Hi all,Why on earth has the news that popular Double act Ant and Dec (above) who have secured a two-and-a-half year golden handshake deal (worth around £30 million) raised such a chorus of hissy fit’s and righteous disapproval from certain areas of our (oh so impartial and highly paid) media…?I know it’s a massive sum.Yes and I know Surgeons and Firefighters and Nurses get sweet sod all in comparison. (Blame our Government folks!)However when you consider that Damian Hurst was listed in last years Times rich list as being worth £100 Million or that the utterly useless duo Gilbert & George are raking in a fortune (for manufacturing profane images of excrement) then comparison would suggest our Geordie lads are an absolute bargain!I’ll take a good laugh from them as opposed to all the poisoned hypocrisy of the farty Britart crowd any day.I’m an artist…get me out of here!Catch you laterShirley Read more:Worth
Has EBay Forsaken its Founders Ideal? 2007-04-20 18:17:00 Hi all,Aye, there are rumblings in the eBay jungle! P*ssed off punters aplenty (myself included) vent our displeasure as the Internet colossus flexes it’s (not so subtle) online muscle…I know, it’s a sad sorry tale of greed and disgruntled dreams. So, what’s the beef?...Well until recently, items listed for sale by eBay punters on the UK site would automatically appear in the search results on it’s the bigger American brother .com site (and very nice too)But since February, the most common 'simple search' on eBay.com only brings up items for sale by US sellers. (not so good at all)OK, it is still possible for American users to find items listed by UK sellers, but only if they click on the 'advanced search' option, which of course isn’t (on a pro-rata basis) likely to be too often the case. Getting in on the .com action is vital to sellers as it receives mega more hits than our smaller UK site could ever dream of as well as offering simple access to nearly 300 millio
Breaking the Abstract Frenzy! 2007-04-22 03:51:00 Hi all,Yesterday was a teasing tempest of a day. A caffeine fueled frenzy of fun filled activity! All go no slacking, paintings to be finished, photographed, and then listed on eBay. Plus…all those usual personal and business commitments always conjured up by the weekend!“Beam me up Mr. Scot!”Phew! So, in a calmer vein may I present my latest abstract addition to the ShirleyBod hall of infamy…Breakers (Dyptych: 2 Canvases 16”x20” 45x51cm)Why Breakers? Well, I guess I was thinking of the sea as I swept the paint across the canvas surface. (As one does) You know, in that rhythmic sway of swish and across. The textured pattern in the foreground seemed to suggest…a beach perhaps or some rugged coast line with the salty spray or spit like surf gently breaking… you get the picture.Eagle eyed observers will note (sorry no prizes) a slight departure here in both my choice of the Diptych format and a more restrained (me, restrained?) use of colour. (No searing hot reds or glowin Read more:Breaking
, Abstract
Does My Red Kiss Conceal an Atom Bomb? 2007-04-26 01:38:00 Hi all,Actually I’ve been immersed all day working on two entirely different abstract paintings. So, Red Kiss (above) was actually painted on Monday but such a chaotic chronology seems quite apt at a time when an extra couple of cybernetic arms(nuclear powered of course) would be a very welcome attribute!So, Why Red Kiss? This was another case of starting out with one idea and ending up (in a sort of round about way) with something quite different. I was thinking skies…something gestural with sweeping strata’s of cloud line. Yes, blues and bites of simmering yellow…bla, blaBut it all went a littleUmm… haywire? Off kilter perhaps!Such accidents are the grist to the creative mill. My husband happened to stroll in as I was in mid flow and remarked that my efforts thus far resembled the atom bomb test just before the mushroom cloud had formed!! (Well thank you David for so acute an observation..Grrrrr!) Still we artist’s do long to make our mark and if not perhaps a nuclear bla
Fly the Saatchi Standard 2007-04-25 15:40:00 Hi all,Reading an online interview with Charles Saatchi (above right, Art Patron & former Spin King) I was stuck by the admiration he still obviously holds for former Prime Minister (and his former boss) Margaret Thatcher (above left)“She created an environment in Britain where people felt they could escape the role they had been pushed into. They no longer had to be dropouts and failures. Students like Damien Hirst felt they could do absolutely anything."Well, obviously in Damian Hirst’s case, this is an illusion under which he still blissfully labors….or is that New Labours? Still, it’s a little curious, when you consider how much Damian and his chums despise the whole Thatcher legacy, how involved these ‘edgy artists’ always have been with the very man (take a bow Charles Saatchi) who helped the Iron Lady stay in power for so long!"Three Cheers for Britart and raise the double standard"Catch you laterShirley Read more:Standard
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