This painting has changed name several times, but I finally settled on Bad Neighbour. The street is from a village in the Gers which was in the territories fought over by the English and French. The French named certain villages as bad neighbours, ie English….. These names stayed and `mauvais voisins’ became Mauvezin.
This painting is over three layers of wood and measures width: 550mm x height: 705mm x depth: 20mm
Created over multiple layers of wood this was the most involved of the current collection. Each colour has its own piece of wood, ie every colour is cut from the wood, painted and reconstructed; with some pieces bridging different layers of the painting. It was painstaking to create with multiple aspects, angles and shades of colour.
I was inspired to paint this as the Bauhaus movement is something which has fascinated me for a long time, and this building is representative to me of an institution that inspired and influenced a generation of artists. This freedom and creativity was to be stifled by the Nazis.
It has been a while since I sold my photos, but I am about to start again. I love photography and have previously worked as a press photographer, now I use them as an inspiration for my paintings. My wife an kids often print and frame them, and guests have commented on them, so I have decided to share them again.
The challenge was where to start and how to go about it, as usual I turned to my wife and asked her if she could keep her eyes peeled for any outlets which may be suitable. She already runs a business on etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/PapieretLaine) which sells digital art for scrapbooking and decoupage as well as crochet which she makes. This was where she looked and we have decided that often it is better the devil you know rather than start a whole new project, so I will soon have a shop online for instant downloads of digital images! On writing this, I have not yet actually started the process of setting it up, but there is something about writing it that will help me actualise it 😉 Or as my wife says, if you tell everyone you are going to do it then the pressure is on the complete the task ….
So at this stage I cannot share the link with you, but fingers crossed it will be with us soon – though probably not soon enough that you should be holding your breath!
The plan is to draw on the different aspects which I enjoy photographing the most. When I was a textile designer I used to photograph flowers, these I am going to now sell, for others to either have as stand alone photos, or to use within their own creations. The next section will be cars, this will probably be the largest section to start with as it is something I have enjoyed photographing for a long time and have a huge collection. We used to live in Pau, where the first grand Prix was held, and where every year there are two GPs, a modern and a historic car weekend. For both of these the streets of the city are closed and turned into a race track – it is amazing fun; if you ever get the chance to go I highly recommend it. As a result of years of watching both of these I have a huge portfolio which I intent to share on my new shop.
The final section will be photos which have influenced my life, these will be from Cornwall, where I have spent many holidays and have amazing memories. There will also be photos of other places in France, this will be a mixture of events and views which are ingrained on my mind and which I feel blessed to have seen and been able to capture.
Now I must get back to The Artist, he is currently in pieces and waiting to be complete – I believe he will be one of my finest works – so fingers crossed that this week will see him finished so that framing can be done next week and prehaps added to my exhibition currently showing at Zambezi One Gallery
From the moment I first put the phone down to Robert at Zambezi One I was on a sort of roller coaster. Unlike those in the fairgrounds I did not know where this one was going or what route it was going to take; the highs were undefined and the lows were out of sight.
For those who have never exhibited this is the approximate way things went.
My wife had been nagging me for a while to get in touch with a gallery, since I had not done so I was taken in hand. The name of the gallery and the phone number were written on a piece of paper and presented to me. A blank look crossed my face. I reverted to my usual tactic; “I am not good at these things …”, “what am I supposed to say?”, “Of course I can ring them, but if they want to sell the paintings for a 100 euros I will end up getting angry and there will be no relationship …” I confess to claiming inability when the truth may be closer to feelings of inadequacy.
Jonathan Kelly at Zambezi One Gallery
If you are not going to force a man to make a phone call then the obvious solution is to make it yourself; exactly what my wife did. I cannot remember exactly how she introduced herself on the phone, but it was something along the lines “I am the bullying wife who is trying to get his act in gear”. We had house guests at the time the call was made, so there was nothing to be done for the following week. Three days after the departure of our guest we were in the car heading to the gallery. Three days later the walls were booked and a list was written for me to complete!
So what was it that I needed to do before I could show my work? Firstly, I had to finish Yachts. It was looking like the colours in it were going to work brilliantly, but you cannot take a part finished painting to a gallery – so that was the first thing. Next we had to work out how to hang the paintings. Since they are painted on wood they are heavier than your average hanging. Also we live in a rather small house, so I had built a rack for the paintings on the floor – none had every been hung on a wall; welcome to challenge number two.
The third thing which was on the list was by far the scariest – pricing. I rather model myself on Picasso, but unfortunately I cannot price by his scale! I have always been very anti the idea of selling my work too cheap, this is partly because it takes such a long time to complete each one. Unlike a painting it cannot be done in one day. I first have to create the drawing, then adjust it to work on the layers of wood I use. Next it needs to transferred onto the wood and cut. Once cut each piece is painted individually and then glued into its final place on the painting. Not something even super man could fit into one day. Some people have suggested that perhaps I should reduce the process so I can produce work faster and sell it cheaper, but I find that rather offensive. No one would ever suggest to a Michlin star chef that they should convert their restaurants into fast food joints!!!!! So why say it to me ….
We debated the prices until my wife could take it no longer. She got a piece of paper and wrote them down and that was what was sent to the gallery. As Robert, one of the gallery owners said to me on our last meeting “behind every successful man is a strong woman” I think I could change that to “every aspiring man needs a Mirrie” – except she is 100% busy sorting me out – so the rest of you will have to find your own.
The paintings made it to the gallery, and with the help of Robert and Andrew they were arranged fabulously. The vernissage was a success – dispite the fact that it clashed with an England France rugby match, all was going ok. Until ….. one of the paintings fell off the wall. This was totally my fault. I had used an inadequate fixing and I knew that the only person who should be fixing it was me. This fact did not stop me from trying to palm the responsibility off onto the gallery, whose efforts are appreciated. Once again I was loaded into the car with a spare painting to go and resolve the problem before I talked anymore about it, or had any more restless nights. Of course, my wife was right, it is far better to fix something than to worry about it.
Now we are both sleeping with our fingers crossed in the hope that something sells and we will have a few extra pennies.
I have already posted about my racing car being sold, but today it was collected. It is officially gone. I know that I should be please but I somehow feel slightly flat about the whole thing. I love that the buyer was so pleased with it, but it still feels slightly strange knowing that I may never see it again. This morning over breakfast the kids asked what we had planned for today and when I said that the buyer was coming they asked if they could have a photo of it so that it was not forgotten. I had never previously thought about how they had views the pieces. They have seen them from birth to final form and in many ways they have got used to them always being around. I think they will miss the painting more than me. Until this morning I thought that they did not think too long on what I did, they always had an opinion, but it never occurred to me that they may actually in some ways be attached to the paintings.
I am starting work on a new one today. It is smaller and really colourful with only two layers it is going to striking rather than complicated. I like the image, I hope that everyone else will wonder exactly what it is that is off to the left of the image….. But enough of that, you can judge it when you see it. For now it is about creating a new piece to fill a gap. It is about building another image which will hopefully be as desired as the one just sold.
The sun is out and it is a glorious day, I shall not waste a moment of this great light, the french window is open and my saw if calling.
The car is gone …. good or bad?
The car was always slightly different to the other paintings I was working on. Firstly it was the only one which was actually small enough to be moved by one person alone, secondly, it was experimental with the car coming out of the frame.
I am of course glad to have sold a painting, and the money has gone towards a couple of days at the beach for my family, but I also feel a little sad to split the collection.
There is a flatness and an un-nerving feeling that I cannot quite understand. I think that however much I create in the hope of others enjoying I am not actually emotionally ready for them to be in someone elses home, for other people to wake up to them.
It is a warm day in the South West of France. In fact, it is verging on being too warm a day. I have just finished the cutting on the third layer of the Spaghetti, and breeze from the window is blowing the dust around the studio, while barely justifying itself by cooling the room…. I have limited space, but work primarily in the loft. It is a hot room in summer and a stuffy room in winter, but it is large enough to manage most of the paintings.
The loft (as is much of the house) is a rather Heath Robinson affair. I have a series of small workmans tables and the wooden table I managed to snaffle of my wife which she had been using for sewing. I did promise to return it to her, but funds being as they are she is not pushing me as the return of the table is likely to incur another financial investment at the local BricoMarché …
I am writing this while intermittently coughing up my lungs after removing the sawdust from the studio floor – a really horrible task, required to keep my sanity, but at the risk of my lungs …. careless actions – I must remember to wear the mask next time!
The town I am in has just entered their hibernation period, the summer is more slightly active, however, the winter is close to dead. The advantage to this is that I can concentrate on work without distractions. The disadvantage is that I start talking to the flying ants who are trying to prolong their life by sucking my blood – a not to normal existence for most people. I suppose that the lack of two way conversation means that I do not have to worry about the language barrier which exists between myself and most of the residents of this village.
This is my first blog post, and I am not sure if it best to leave this in drafts and potentially never get around to posting it, or to hit the publish button now and come back and do multiple edits?
Since this is one of the few days when my kids do not come home for lunch I think I shall hit the launch button and see if a quiet lunch, when I actually get to think in peace, leaves me regretting the action.
There was a time when painting by numbers suggested a childs activity book, but now it is more of an accounting thing. I have to order my paints online, partly because they are cheaper and partly because there is absolutely no where around here which sells anything, let alone at a competitive price.
Painting by numbers to me when the beginning of the month figures are calculated (by the long suffering wife) and I have to choose between buying paint, or wood.
One day I am going to have stacks of wood delivered and stored flat ready for use, and I am going to buy paint by the litre and always have a spare… but for now the work and the numbers are intrinsically linked and I can only do what I can do each month.
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