ARTISTS TALKING

# 88 [10 January 2012]

Internet access has been difficult since I moved unfortunately, but it has allowed me to dedicate more time to renovating the house. (Internet now sorted thankfully.)

Today I finished painting my new studio - small, but just big enough to paint the new 180 x 200 cm canvases for a show in New York; it will be a tight squeeze and that floor may be a distraction, but it's better than the corner of a bedroom.

I mentioned to our new neighbour, a very sweet elderly lady, that I'm a painter by trade, not a professional DIYer and she very kindly said that she could arrange for my paintings to be shown in the local hairdresser's... I was touched by her kindness, I did explain that they are quite abstract, very large and not to everyone's taste. It's good to be known locally though, so I thought I'd introduce myself to the art school in Perpignan and see what emerges.

Just the facade of the house to paint now and the shutters, then on with the real paintings which I'm itching to start, it's been too long now.

# 87 [1 November 2011]

Hello everyone who clicked the link on Stramash Space. I'm pretty chuffed that Kim Walker chose to feature my new videos on their site this week.

I hope you find them interesting, hopefully something for everyone! It seems weird that the random footage I made of neon lights and New York streets has now evolved into a finished body of work.

One regret I have is not taking a tripod with me... how stupid; I took loads of wobbly stuff which I couldn't use, next time: fewer pairs of socks!

Some of the imagery is a departure for me, but I'm thinking it will lead to a new phase in my painting too.

It's been a while now since I finished them and I haven't yet viewed them as a series, so I'm looking forward to looking at them later when the kids are in bed.

I've been thinking about the pros and cons of an online show... on the negative side the viewer may just flick through with the sound down whilst watching TV; on the positive side they may allow themselves to be totally absorbed in the images and sounds, closing themselves off from the outside world (something that's difficult to do in a gallery environment). 

Potentially more people can view an online show and perhaps one of the greatest pros is that the viewer can interact with the artist (which I find a little ironic given the remote and virtual nature of the exhibition in comparison with a physical exhibition which is supposedly more 'personal').

I'd be pleased if anyone wants to leave feedback, thoughts, reactions...

http://www.stramashspace.org/exhibitions/current.html

# 86 [23 September 2011]

I've just been snatching the odd minute here and there during the past few weeks to finish off my videos and soundtracks started in NYC, other commitments getting in the way.

Considering the lack of quality time to dedicate to my work, the results have been surprising. The most exciting aspect has been creating sound that works with the images. I mostly adapted field recordings, adopting a similar approach to the one I use for video editing.

Never knowing the end result and letting the creative process guide the outcome has allowed each video to take on a life of its own... strangely similar to the way I paint.

I do bear in mind though that I may just be making the best of the material I have and if I had set out to make the videos (in their final form) they may be very different and perhaps more successful, but that seems to be the job of a film-maker, not an experimental video-artist.

# 85 [23 August 2011]

Editing the videos from NYC has allowed me to lose myself in great memories...

The visuals are ready, I just need to work on the audio. The video I uploaded to vimeo this evening sticks out a little from the others, it has audio that seems to work well, but images that may need to be tweaked.

It's a video-walk from 42nd Street (Times Square) to 19th Street (where I was staying) - I followed the line of the pavement relentlessly, so everyone had to move out of my way, I wasn't popular.

I was initially grabbed by the 'line' falling across the screen, but now I've finished the first cut it is actually the 'grid' that appears regularly that looks really interesting. So, I may do another cut tomorrow, featuring just the grid.

# 84 [14 August 2011]

Just finished this video, filmed in Toys'R'Us in Times Square, NYC - I was almost thrown out by a security guard! The lights on the wall next to the escalator reminded me of a Dan Flavin installation and was just waiting to be filmed...

New York was such an amazing experience - didn't visit one gallery (fed up I didn't have time to see the Alexander McQueen), but filmed constantly and took hundreds of Lomo photos. So, it looks like I'm going to be busy editing over the coming weeks - good timing as I've just sprained my ankle, so not that mobile.

Some shows in the pipeline, hopefully they'll come off, who knows?

# 83 [6 July 2011]

I've just returned from the opening of a show of my work in a museum north of Toulouse. I think it went well, lots of people wanted to talk to me about my videos, paintings and prints, but it did seem a strange experience as it was the culmination of months of work creating new paintings and oddly, seeing them hung, I felt a little removed from the situation as if I were viewing work by another artist.

To help the understanding of the context of my work, I made a small speech (in French!!!!).

"- So, what do I paint?

I have an obsession with beautiful surfaces and with the contrast between light and dark, those works are objects that have evolved over a long period of time - months playing with paint in my studio.

Layers and layers of paint are applied and then rubbed away, many times. I live with the works and usually have a battle with them to find that elusive something that makes them strong images that hold the viewer's attention. They are not easy images to make...

When are they finished? They really are the results of a long process, snapshots of a period of my life - akin to a journey and I have to decide when I have reached the destination.

- When I am asked by strangers what I paint, I usually tell them 'lines'... obviously they expect something like: hills, people, flowers. But to paint a line sounds obscure... but it isn't. All of these works have their origin in my experience of nature. I paint what I see with my eyes... I used to paint landscapes (evident in some of the large prints), now I paint zooms of landscapes, close-ups, but not taken directly from the tangible world, taken from my videos of that world.

The videos are not what you expect, they are not manipulated images, just video-walks in nature. Close-up images of grass, stones, rocks, water...

My paintings are based on those images, journeys in nature, but removed from our usual understanding of it.

- So, what will you take away with you from this exhibition?

You can view them as aide-memoires - something to trigger a distant, fleeting memory or feeling of a place you may have visited through the minutiae of nature: uneven, weathered stone textures, cracks in rocks, dry earth, moving grass and trees, drips revealing the passage of time - the elegance and simplicity of nature pared down to its essential components.

- I hope you enjoy the show and perhaps return to experience it in a quieter atmosphere and maybe allow yourself to be lost in the world I've created."

The curator was very pleased with how it looked and has a few ideas to help promote my work... one of them being for me to exhibit at a friend's gallery in Dubai - she thinks my work will go down well in Muslim countries due to its abstract nature - why didn't I think of that?

Looking ahead now... I'm off to New York in a couple of weeks time with my wife; it will be a great opportunity to create a new body of work. The guy we're staying with has some crazy ideas about getting me an exhibition in the Chrysler Building! Any building would be good enough for me!!

# 82 [6 June 2011]

I feel a new level of recognition has started in my artistic career - I received some hate mail yesterday.

It came through the post - a page from a catalogue of an exhibition I'm showing in - it really did make me laugh, not only has the perpetrator scrawled all over the images, but gone to the effort to place a sticker over my works so the the word 'Merde' can be seen clearly - you couldn't make it up... 'and even more shit' on the video still.

The curators know it's someone they rejected during the exhibition selection process. Well, I know my work's not easy, but I've taken it as a compliment that they've gone to all that effort.

On a more positive note, I've had some great feedback on the 'Book / Art' show curated by Silvie Turner that finishes today; lots of people have really liked my book and would have bought a copy had it been available to buy. And, tomorrow, the 'Time Out of Mind' exhibition starts in Camberwell - the PV is on Friday and I'm looking forward to going.

I also submitted a video for 'One Minute Vol. 5' organised by Kerry Baldry. I was selected last year for this touring show and thought they'd be a slim chance two years in a row, but last week heard that she wants to include my work again. The showreel travels to some fantastic venues and festivals all over the world, so I'm keen to see what's in store this year.

All these good things going on further afield, but I'm also a firm believer in being known where you live, that's why I think it's a good idea to show my 'shit' in the local event. I received this email from one of the curators about the hate mail:

"we think it is *****.
(she is mad)
keep smiling..."

Again, I laughed, but sadly that may be true - I'm keen to write back to her though to tell her that I, on the other hand, really like her work: quirky, naively-drawn characters inhabiting a make-believe world of glowing flowers and psychedelic colours. Maybe it is good to air your views rather than bottling them up inside - the anonymity of the note suggests she is just a little bitter though.

# 81 [10 May 2011]

Yesterday was a momentous occasion - all the paintings I have been working on for the past few months are now ready for exhibiting. I can relax a little now.

It feels like the end of a chapter - I suppose I view a short burst of creativity, where all the paintings are closely linked, to recording an album.

Also, in a sense, they belong in my studio, remnants of the frantic activity that has recently gone on and will be taken out of context when they are shown in galleries. The paintings represent what I'm interested in at this particular time and now I can move on to something else. The exciting thing is, I don't know what is to come in the coming months.

I photographed everything and was really pleased to see them on the computer screen, somehow you view them differently reproduced and it helps assess them. One in particular stood out to me... my studio looks a tip, the painting is one I've not given much attention to since it was finished, but the painting photographed grabbed my attention.

# 80 [2 May 2011]

It was good to receive a flyer this morning from Silvie Turner advertising her upcoming artists' book show - which includes 'Path' by me. I've been so bogged down by preparing paintings for exhibiting during the past few weeks - tidying up edges, screwing in hooks, touching up - that I've almost forgotten about the end result, the shows.

I sent 'Path' to her a few weeks ago, the end book worked out well - I just need to find the time to promote it now and to create a 'Path' website. I also sent the British Library a copy and am waiting to hear if they need additional copies for the other copy libraries.

Back to painting for now though...

# 79 [12 April 2011]

Panic is a great motivator. I've got three solo shows and a group show coming up during June and July. Will I have enough work? As it is, no. I have been frantically creating and recreating.

I took the drastic decision to change some paintings I made last year which neither have the 'wow' nor the 'subtlely-interesting' factor. They are a striking cadmium red, which I've now decided should be just an occasional accent - there's no point holding on to them as they are.

I'm also still working on the series of 120 x 120 canvases, meant to be random forms, vaguely clumps of grass on a chalk bank. They're at the stage that I can leave them and live with them for a few days. They may be finished, but they look very different to the others, maybe that's a good thing though.

When I've not been painting I've been re-reading 'Art and Psychoanalysis' by Peter Fuller. One of his comments in the chapter 'Abstraction and The Potential Space' struck me: 'the least interesting subject for a painting is painting itself' (paraphrased). Well, that is one of my concerns, rather, obsessions. The final work though always takes on other layers of meaning, references to the history of landscape painting, glimpses of forgotten memories of nature, hints of the sublime, references to spiritual and religious art. If the work lacks these things, then I suppose it is vacuous, devoid of depth and would be just about paint (as interesting as I find that).

Andrew Bryant has asked me to reflect on my practice living outside the UK... and that has reminded me of a comment made by my MA tutor: "You will never be in such a privileged position as you are as a student being able to work in the studio all the time". Living here in the Pyrenees allows me to do just that - we're pretty self-contained and have incomes from various sources, not only from my paintings - a situation that would not be possible in the UK. Thankfully I don't have to teach and tutor anymore, it was inspirational, but draining, leaving very little energy to paint.

Some people may think that it is self-indulgent for my greatest concern during the week to be that a glaze has dried too quickly, but that's the life I've chosen. A major issue is that what I do is in isolation, I miss regular interaction with kindred spirits - but then there are the contacts I've made through AN and collaborations with local and UK artists and musicians. And if I can't easily visit them, I'll invite them here to work with me in my studio.

I'm pleased that this summer I have a mix of French and UK exhibitions. The group show in June came about though someone seeing my work on a UK based website - the show will be in Camberwell and of abstract painting; opportunities like this have been pretty rare over the last two years, I suppose due to the financial climate. I'd like to be showing my paintings as much as I do my videos, maybe things are picking up.