When I'm Sixty Four.

If it weren't for The Beatles no one would have found it appropriate to celebrate this birthday, but as Macca made the effort to write this, why not? Happy Birthday to me.

Two Tyne Valleys

Tyne Valley (work in progress)


Tyne Valley 2 (work in progress)

This is always a difficult time of year, I find, when work is slow and much thought is expended on what direction it should take. So if it seems to you that not much is happening here on Boogie Street, you may in a sense be right. But high in my tower I'm thinking, thinking , thinking. And every now and then, I begin a new painting in what, for me has been largely an unexplored area - landscape.

These two are the latest and show a part of the South Tyne Valley near to Bardon Mill. They've been cursorily blocked in and will need a good deal more work to bring them to completion. But I'm relatively pleased with them and I can see how they could lead to ..... something new.

But I'll have to give that some more thought.

Kastela Restaurant

Kastela Restaurant (Oil on canvas, 24 x 30 x 4 cms)

I made some finishing touches to this yesterday. Another small painting done.

Swings and Roundabouts

In the Arsenale (work in progress)

Not an especially good day. I went to the Club, where trouble is brewing. I'll say no more other than there are problems surrounding the change of name and that I am not responsible for others' failure to be aware of developments in the world outside.

So, tired and troubled, I made a poor fist of starting this painting. The colours are dull (duller than the photo would have you believe), the drawing is off and the proportions are worrying. I may be able to pull it round next time, but it may also be one of those that gets scraped down and overpainted.

And so to bed.

Northumberland Fells

Northumberland Fells (oil with collage on canvas, 30 x 30 cms)

Another useful day, adding one more small landscape to my store. I just need to "do ten more" and find somewhere to show them.

Boquer Valley Vision

Boquer Valley Vision (Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 cms)

Despite being a January baby, I have never responded well to this month. I hate the cold, the miserable grey light, the short days, and my wheels grind exceedingly slowly throughout the month and for some time afterwards.

As a consequence, it takes me a while to crank up the painting engine and other things steal my attention. In this case, it's been activity on the cartooning front and some consideration of where that might lead. My earnest wish has always been to use my creativity in all its forms, so my resolution for the year (and I have to admit that, actually, I don't believe in making resolutions, so this is purely for the purposes of illustration) is that I will continue with my love of painting while trying to make something of my cartooning and illustrative techniques.

So this is the first painting of the New Year. It's based on a photograph I took in Mallorca in 2008 on a walk from Porto Pollensa to Cala Boquer. Although the general topography remains fairly accurate, the colours are not and I felt as I was painting that something of a visionary nature was coming into the work. I rather hope that might happen again in the future.

Old Drawings #63

Car Park (Charcoal, pastel on cartridge paper, 60 x 60 cms)

I don't think I've posted this before and it does more or less fit chronologically into the series of Old Drawings, having been drawn in 2000/2001.

The underground car park shown is still there in Newcastle, but much of the superstructure was demolished or remodelled when the new City Library was built last year.

Happy New Year!

Let's hope it's a good one. No. let's make it a good one!

Rob and Caz Together

Rob and Caz Together (Oil with sand on canvas, 30x30 cms)

First of all, I hope you all had a good Xmas.

Like last year, I set myself a secret project which I couldn't tell you about until now. This is a painting based on a photograph I took at the wedding of Pat's son, Rob, to Caz (or Caroline, depending on who reads this) and I did it as a combined wedding and Xmas present for them. Luckily, they stayed with us for a few days at Pat's flat in Tynemouth, so I was able to give it to them on Xmas Day, even though the surface was still a little tacky.

I'd like to wish a ....

For Auld Lang Syne

Architctural Fragment (Pilot disposable pen in A5 sketchbook)

One of the traditions of the Art Club is to hold a bit of a party in the studio on a Thursday shortly before Xmas. And that's what we did last Thursday. Despite a fresh scattering of snow, there was a good turnout of around 25 people. The tables were well presented with pies, cakes, sausage rolls, and all the other things that members had thought fit to bring., including bottles of wine.

We all had a good time, but what made this one memorable and worthy of comment here, I think, is that this was the last such party we'll ever have in the studio at Bolbec Hall. Things have been uncomfortable at Bolbec for some time now, because the owners can't let the rest of the building, they're losing money on it hand over fist and a new buyer hasn't been forthcoming. Would you want to buy a building with the oldest (listed) lift in Newcastle and an art club in the attic?

So, in April next year. we'll up sticks and move to new premises at the Newcastle Arts Centre. This promises to be an interesting new era for us. I understand the studio there isn't quite as big as the one we currently occupy and it will cost us more, but I'm sure there will be compensations (not least the presence of an arts materials shop downstairs).

The club will also be changing it's name from the North of England Art Club (incorporating the Newcastle Society of Artists) to the Newcastle Society of Artists (incorporating the North of England Art Club). You see what we did there? There are historical reasons for the change, as well as practical ones - galleries are more interested in a "Society" than a "Club", for instance.

So the party was a good one, but certainly a poignant one.

Sargy Mann, Blind Painter

Sargy Mann from Peter Mann Pictures on Vimeo.

Sargy Mann was diagnosed with cataracts at age 36 and eventually lost his sight altogether. However, he continues to paint.

An inspiration to us all.

Preview Night at Churchill House

Newcastle, in common with many cities round the country, has innumerable 19th century offices standing empty. Years ago, a group of artists I was associated with tried to negotiate the use of one of these offices as a gallery space, The problem turned out to be that most of them are on the first floor or higher and the fire escapes are inadequate or even non-existent. As a consequence they constitute a hazard for public use and the idea came to nothing.

So when I received this invitation to a private view organised by the Newcastle Artists Society in Churchill House, I was curious to see how they'd arranged things. Churchill House in Mosley Street is a big impressive, listed building fallen on hard times. There's an Italian restaurant on the corner, but not much else that's memorable (and I have doubts about the memorability of the restaurant). The current owners are making efforts to do up the inside and rent out office space. As part of that they've come to an agreement with the NAS which allows them to mount exhibitions on the corridor walls and up the staircase. Artists get exposure (with the potential for sales) and the building gets free decoration: seems to be a reasonable arrangement.

It was a fascinating experience wandering the warren of corridors on three floors (I gather there are plans for a fourth to be opened up) , one of them turning out to be circular and the map I got from the reception room proved very useful! The work comprised paintings, prints and wall-hung sculpture; not all of it to my taste, but I'd have it no other way.

Private views have been disappointing in the last few years. Many of the decent galleries have gone and what we've been left with is the glitzy end of things where pushy salesmen try to sell you crap cartoons dolled up with a bit of "hand embellishment" and passed off as art. Yes, yes, that's a value judgement, but it's my value judgement. What these galleries attract is the type of punter who knows nothing about art, has no wish to talk about it other than to wonder if it will go with the decor. Artists themselves are generally not to be found.

So it was great to walk into Churchill House last night and immediately find myself talking to Richard Dobson over a couple of bottles of pils. I'd never met Richard before, but he works at the framer's I used recently and lives only a short walk away from me. Small world.

It's always good to be able to trade experiences with another artist and it doesn't have to be a painter. When Richard left, I fell straight away into conversation with Glenn Gibson, a photographer from Newcastle whose work graces the entrance lobby. Completely different from Richard, but just as entertaining a conversationalist, I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Glenn.

So, a good night which I wasn't really expecting. I hope I might be able to participate in shows there in the future. As for the title of the show - don't ask me. "Corperation-ism" is neither a word nor a term in my vocabulary, but I suppose it makes a change from "New Paintings".

Vindolanda

Vindolanda (Oil on canvas, 12 x 12 ins)

Although I managed to clear the stairs to the studio of snow a couple of days ago, I've not felt really keen on going down to paint. A combination of the bitter cold that's kept the snow on the ground despite there having been no further falls and a general malaise which always accompanies the end of a session of concentrated effort, in this case that for the Xmas paintings, has left me not a little dispirited.

As a consequence, I've spent my time over the past week or so simply drawing cartoons for The Cartoonist's Hat and surfing the web. To be honest, I think I'm on a cusp. My work may need to be shaken up a little. In a practical sense, I'm not sure I can go on filling up the house with the biggish paintings I've been making when the opportunities for displaying them are drying up.

Working on the cartoons has brought back to me that sense of enjoyment I always get working close up to a sheet of paper and I think perhaps a renewed effort to broaden my working methods might pay dividends.

Meanwhile, as I pondered these and other thoughts, I decided I should at least make a concerted attempt to get something done in the studio today. Hence this small painting which allowed me to tackle head on my bête noire, the landscape's ubiquitous green (perhaps that should be bête verte). I decided to simply not paint it green at all and for now at least, I think it works.

By the end of the afternoon my feet were frozen solid. I can heat up the air of the studio, but I can't do anything about the concrete floor.

Sign of the Times

As I sit here hoping this won't be the 10th day of snow, and wondering if this time I might be able to clear the steps to the studio without tumbling down two flights, more cheerful news come in the form of an e-mail. Here it is, edited where appropriate:

"I .... have unfortunately been tasked with contacting you with regards to the exhibition you had been discussing with [us] for 2012. As you will no doubt have heard, the Government is intending to make significant cuts to the amount of money it gives to local authorities. In the case of [the] Borough Council, this means that over the next four years spending has to reduce by £22 million from a budget of £107 million. Unfortunately in order to reach these target savings the Council are proposing to withdraw the subsidy from the Arts Centre.

At this stage whilst work is ongoing with partners to identify alternative options to closure, if these new approaches are unsuccessful then unfortunately the Arts Centre will have to close. Due to this uncertainty whilst we will continue to host exhibitions as programmed until July-August 2011, we can not guarantee exhibitions beyond this time and feel it is prudent to cancel all exhibitions beyond July 31 2011."

Cautionary Tale

I know that while many gallerists are kind and honest folk, there is a small minority that gives the trade a bad name by devious practices.

Stories have been reaching me of an artist who has done well both locally and nationally. He showed some pictures with a gallery at a recent art fair where they sold very well. The gallery wanted more, but for whatever reason, they were unable to get the artist himself to supply them, so they went online and bought some from a website. The pictures they'd bought did not do well, however. In fact, they didn't sell at all.

When it came time for them to pay the artist, they did something I still find quite astonishing: they gave him back the recently acquired paintings, deducting their cost from what they owed him, and then factored in the cost of VAT and told him he owed them for that!

Blimey.

Old Drawings #62

In the Yard at Lemba (Charcoal, compressed charcoal on cartridge paper, 60 x 60 cms.)

As the snow continues to swirl round the lamp standard across the road, as it has done for days now, let's move back again into the swirling mists of time to the sun-drenched Cyprus College of Art, where I last talked about the curious wall there and showed you one of the drawings based on it. This is the last of those drawings, done in the studio at University and, as usual, ignored by all and sundry. I find I get increasingly cross now thinking about that, but I still like the drawing.

And the snow continues ...

Snow has come early here this year. Last year's began on New Year's Eve, but it's been snowing on and off for days now and most of it is lying. I had to abandon a trip into town to see my buddy Kev tonight - the walk up the hill is just too treacherous and coming back down even more so.

I'm going to have to think through my options carefully if this continues. We're never prepared for weather in this country, yet we get so much of it!

Private View

(Photo taken as the gallery was set up for a lecture.)

It's a week ago and seems to be already almost lost in the mists of time, but the Private View for the Christmas Show was a lot of fun. It was very well attended and the comments I received on my work, both directly and indirectly, were very encouraging.

I'm now in the flat period that always follows a time of intense concentration and work to bring a set of paintings to conclusion. What I should really be doing to get over it is to launch myself into a new project, but the weather is against me, making the studio steps unwelcoming, so work on The Cartoonist's Hat will have to suffice.

Snow

2am


4am


11 am

Encouragement , if encouragement were needed, to sit in my nice warm study and get on with sorting out the new blog, was provided by the newly inclement weather. Never mind Xmas Day, we've got snow now!

It snowed for a good part of the night and on and off throughout the day. It's 5pm now and it's snowing again. Getting down the slippery back stairs to the studio was not an option, so on with The Cartoonist's Hat.

{Note to self:If only there were an exhibition I needed to do some winter paintings for.]

The Cartoonist's Hat

(Marker, digital colour)

"It's perhaps important to point out that I find cartooning and painting almost totally incompatible, in that they each require a different mindset. When I wear my cartoonist's hat I cannot paint and vice versa."

"In 1973 .... I gave up all thought of art college. The cartoonist's hat was firmly on for the next 15 years."

"If [painting] keeps me sane, it's worth it, but every now and again I find my head itching for the cartoonist's hat."

Those are quotes from an article I wrote for my fanzine, PIE in the SKY, in 1992 and serve to demonstrate the ongoing difficulty I find in working in both fields at the same time. It ought not to be so difficult. I've mentioned before that Wayne Thiebaud draws a cartoon every day and while I'm far too modest to put myself in the same paddock as Thiebaud, if he can do it, I don't see why I can't. Maybe not every day, but I don't see why painting and cartooning can't co-exist in my art practice.

All of which is by way of announcing the opening of my new blog - The Cartoonist's Hat. There's more work to be done on it in terms of banner headings and the like, but I've copied across all the cartoons from this blog, together with contributions to Moleskine International Exchanges. From now on Moly work and pieces done for Illustration Friday will appear only on The Cartoonist's Hat. If you'd like to keep up with those things, you'll find a link in the sidebar, or better yet, why not subscribe to posts using the handy widget in that blog's sidebar?

Sneaky

(Black marker, colour in Photoshop)

A contribution to the latest brief from Illustration Friday: Sneaky. I find I still get enjoyment from doing this sort of thing, but reactions (or more accurately, the lack of reactions) from readers of this blog suggest that these posts are of limited interest. I'm thinking that it might be useful therefore to set up a new blog to post cartoons and related drawings, such as Moleskine Exchange contributions. Watch this space.

Kastela Seaside Restaurant

Kastela Seaside Restaurant (Oil on canvas, 12 x 12 ins)

This is the painting I finished at the Club last week, when I finally got round to putting in all those fiddly white lines. It brings back good memories of our week in Kaštel Lukšić and the fine meal of fresh fish we had in this restaurant. The restaurant is in Kastel Stari and its name, should you find yourself nearby, is Labinezza. Highly recommended.

Christmas Exhibition

If you're able to do so, come along and say hello! Further details in the sidebar.

I'm Proud of the BBC

Something I think should be said more often and as widely as possible.

Snow by the Tracks

Snow by the Tracks (Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 ins)

This photograph could be better; I think my hand shook a little and I've had to tighten up the picture in Photoshop. However, this is the last of the paintings for the Xmas Exhibition. I took it and two others to the gallery today, using a taxi to avoid the awful winds blowing across the region.

As it was still morning, I wandered down to the Club and found a few regulars hard at work there. Although I hadn't really intended to do so, the atmosphere got me working and I finished one of the Kastela Restaurant pictures. Photo next time I'm there.

The Side, with Snow

The Side, with Snow (oil on canvas, 36 x 36 ins)

I finished this, the second of the bigger pictures yesterday, although I'm still waiting for some of the white paint to dry. I had it out in the garden sunshine for an hour or two, while I hacked away a year's accumulation of brambles, but the sun seemed to make very little difference.

After that I stood it in front of the radiator all night as I continue to pander to the idea that heat will help, even though I know in my heart of hearts that oil paint dries by oxidation rather than evaporation. I'm supposed to get it to the gallery today, but I suspect I may be able to delay until tomorrow. That would be a good thing for a number of reasons, not least the weather forecast for today, which is truly horrible.

Not Wanted

Breakfast & T-Shirts (Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cms)


Paintings & Prints ((Oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cms)

Ah well, it was worth a punt, but the Royal Institute of Oil Painters didn't like my two paintings enough to want them on the walls of the Mall Galleries. I'm sure there are lessons to be learned from this, but at the moment the only one I can think of is that I should refrain from sending the ROI (or indeed the NEAC) any more pictures. It would certainly save me some money.

Turnbull Winter

Turnbull Winter (oil on canvas, 36 x 36 ins)

I could probably go on tinkering with this forever more, but I signed off on it today. Pat helped me deliver the first two pictures to the gallery this morning and this one is now ready to go too.

Brand New Moly

(Markers, fibretips and coloured pencils in Japanese accordion-fold Moleskine)

As I've indicated previously, progress on Moly_x_63, the Totem Pole Moly, has been slow, so I recently signed up for another Moleskine exchange. This is my first contribution to Moly_x_25, just beginning its second round after a successful first one.

I find it really relaxing to sit in front of the tv and draw things like this. There's no theme to this one, so I decided to start with a cornucopia and let it disgorge its contents, surprising me in the process.