Distractions

Our trip to York last weekend to see our friend Pam finally Doctored was a lot of fun, involving rambling round the Shambles, drinking in the Minster and eating too much. We did find the time, however, to visit the York Art Gallery where the Stanley Spencer Exhibition had just opened. I'd seen the show before, but Pat hadn't, and I enjoyed going round it again as much as the first time.

I had a vague memory of the Gallery being full of rather dull brown paintings of the Georgian/Victorian eras, but to my delight I discovered on the top floor a nice permanent collection of modern works by the likes of David Bomberg (a lovely charcoal drawing) John Monks (one of his paintings of a mirror with a battered cardboard box in the foreground), and John Piper (a mixed media landscape).

I'm resigned to January being written off as a month of little work. Too many distractions. Even as this is posted, I'm on my way to Edinburgh to celebrate my birthday with mussels and malt whisky. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Preview Night

I had a good day yesterday. I met my mate, The Frootbat, for coffee in town and we decided to go to see the current show at the Laing - a roomful of Stanley Spencers. It's always a delight to renew acquaintances with Spencer's work and this was no exception. A good selection representing his career, starting with some pen and ink drawings and his early self-portrait, through to the one he did late in life, by way of the Leg of Mutton nude (which presumably inspired the "Parental Guidance" notice on the door to the exhibition) and the quite mad St Francis and the Birds.

Renaissance and Post-Impressionist influences abound, but the blend of imagination and the real world filtered through the mind of a wonderful painter produced images that continue to work their magic in an age when idiots still insist that painting is dead.

After the exhibition and a couple of coffees in the Laing's cafe, I went on to the Private View at the Guildhall. Despite it being fiercely cold, there was a good turnout and I was gratified to see a good deal of attention directed towards my painting. Almost as good as a sale. Almost.