Dietz

Dietz

(Acrylic on canvas panel, 10 x 8 in)

This small work is what I think of as a “building portrait”. The shop stands on Gateshead High Street and even now that the pork butcher’s shop has been replaced by something less interesting, the early 19th century frontage stands out from the surrounding buildings.

I based the painting on a photograph of the building I took some time after the shop had closed. Eventually, through the magic if the Interweb, I was able to find a photograph of the window when the shop was open and include that information.

Two Towers

Two Towers, Korcula (0.8 marker in A5 sketchbook)

The last drawing I did in Croatia this year. I did it leaning up against the end of a wall while people went past me, in and out of a pastry shop, a dog snuffled round my feet, and fags were stubbed out in the litter bin next to me.

It's this kind of lovely detail that comes back to me whenever I look back over my sketchbook drawings.

River Factory

River Factory (Oil on board, 12 x 12 ins)

The show at Whitley Bay ended on Sunday and I went to collect my pictures today. And there were only three to bring away! This one, River Factory, was sold on Saturday, possibly to an old friend of mine whom I haven't seen for twenty years or more. It shows a factory on one of the bends in the River Tyne, now quite possibly demolished.

Although the show seemed to be doing less well than the similarly situated show in July, by the end it had done about the same level of business. People may have been hesitant about spending in the current climate, but it's clear they recognised a good buy when it came down to it. I think we might try the same format next year if the shop space is still available (and who would expect a sudden demand for large shop spaces in the next 12 months?)

Wee Scotland Shop

Wee Scotland Shop (Oil on canvas, 12 x 12 ins)

This fine emporium of .... Scottish memorabilia and ... um..... tartan stuff is on the Royal Mile leading up to the Castle. I think peculiar little shops like this help to make a city human.

Shop Work

Shop (work in progress)

Some corrections and redefining on this painting today. One of the dangers of buying relatively cheap Chinese canvases is that they're not always perfectly made. In this case, I realised yesterday that the canvas is not a true square. It's slightly off-square, enough to throw some of my earlier work out of square too.. I reckon I've put that right today and when the canvas is framed, there won't be anything amiss.

The Race is On Again

Pub (work in progress)



Shop (work in progress)

The race in the title is a race against time, of course. I have just over a week to complete my pictures for inclusion in the Di Rollo exhibition, if I want them to be framed by the gallery.

Pat and I spent a day in Edinburgh last week collecting material for paintings but I've had trouble with my printer which insists on printing everything far too dark. Eventually I had to resort to having my photographs printed professionally but this meant some delay in getting started on the new work.

Nevertheless, here I am now with two new small paintings begun of a pub and a shop in Edinburgh. One of them may prove more difficult to complete than the other. Can you guess which, and for what reason?

Split Rock

Split Rock (Oil on canvas, 12 x 16 ins)

Back at the Club, I found the owners of the building were making up for the freezing we suffered in the Winter, by pumping out all the heat they must have saved up from that time. Still, it didn't stop me from pressing on with and finishing Split Rock.

With a little time in hand, I gave the poison dwarf in the clothes shop painting her cards and made a start on the upper part of the picture. I'll advertise for someone else to run the store, someone with greater stature. Or maybe it doesn't need anyone in it. What do you think?


Clothes Stall (work in progress)

Critical Mass

Clothes Shop (work in progress)

Like Bob Dylan in Maggie's Farm, I got a head full of ideas/ That are drivin' me insane, which is why I keep beginning new paintings: I need to keep getting them out of my head and onto canvas. So, rather than finishing one of the pictures at the Club today, I took in the new Clothes Shop (which I began just before going off to Corflu) and worked on that. I think it's coming along quite well.

This means, however, that I now have four paintings on the go and that's approaching critical mass, by which I mean that unless I want one of them to start slipping into the background and not be thought about again for maybe some months, I have to start finishing off.