OOh Medusa

A productive day at the gallery and at home; former by me and latter by Stu in his kitchen framery. I must remember to make him a little stamp to 'sign' his frames with, it would be a nice touch and credit where credit is due. Having had a real blank last night when I was prepping up canvases to paint today in the gallery I threw in the towel and hoped inspiration would strike this morning. Right on cue, once I had emerged from deep R.E.M. punctuated by the usual over-real, visually complex dreams and under a pile of cats, I chanced upon the idea of following up sketches of the Medusa that I had made weeks ago while working on a similarly snake-haired angel, which ended up called 'Fragrant Storm'. Set up this and another 'Leaf-lady' on two box canvases around breakfast time and then got to be amazed all over again at how fast days go when you are chilling at home doing painting things and not trying to earn a buck doing repetitive and utterly non-creative things. Please note; I try my damndest to incorporate some form of creative thought into my repetitive cashdayjob, but it can be an uphill struggle some days... After last week's impromptu art lesson with some random drop-in children I was quite keen to spend a day in quiet painting without deviation and thankfully no small people arrived demanding art lessons with menaces. An adult did enquire if I taught and expressed a desire to learn from me which was quite bemusing as my confidence still doesn't stretch to instructing others; I did for a while harbour fantasies of teaching in an Italian villa for small holiday groups when someone offered, but, probably fortuitously, it never came to pass.
First picture that grabbed me today was the Medusa and I had a great time doing it; after initial worries that I was recreating Pocohontas from the Disney film it all came together really well I think, with the snakes suggested in zig-zag rather than fully illustrated heads and all. A good array of customers today, some buying, some just looking, but plenty of interest and learning to be had. One excellent stone-carver visited, who coincidentally lives pretty close to my brother on Dartmoor and hand carves amazing abstract and figurative pieces in limestone, marble, alabaster...nothing but admiration for someone with mastery of a craft like that. Rosie Musgrave is her name, and her biographical notes tell me that she started stone work around the age of twenty, and like so many of us, has returned after a gap of some years. Humblingly, she really liked my work too and asked questions about techniques and methods of working that raised interesting ideas in themselves; rock carving and painting are so far apart but so close together - I can see echoes of each in the other. Both have so much to do with 'seeing' and 'drawing' instinctively to create a piece.
Ritchie's paintings are all over the place in preparation for his solo show at the Ealain Gallery in Drymen, over on the West coast; looking good too. I am gallery sitting for an extra day next weekend so he can have a decent time over at the private view; good for me too as that'll be at least two extra little box canvases this coming week. Sold one right at the end of the day to a photography team; a couple who specialise in events and wedding photos, something I have the greatest admiration for after umpteen years being on the catering side.
And so bounced I home to see how Stu had got on with convalescing and finishing frames; very well on both counts and now we are at least three paintings closer to the show I have spent half the year preparing for! All the frames are looking fantastic and it has been such a good learning curve picking colours and techniques to (hopefully) complement the paintings; bought a wee roller set to experiment with putting on layers of paint that way but he forgot to use it so that will have to wait for another day, another frame. I had a hairy experience with my framing 'flexi-point' gun when it jammed and I decided to take it apart to determine the cause - without first reading the instructions... how many times does it take? Maybe the sight of the main spring exiting the machine and 'boinging' across the studio, necessitating a lengthy and stress inducing repair, will finally send the message home. It's the oldest one in the book - when in doubt, read the instructions... funnily enough, when I did so and removed screw E (instead of all screws at once) and cleared the obstuction...ta da!
Started another Medusa tonight; I called the earlier one Medusa I with the prophetic feeling that she may be the first of many, or at least a few. Can't paint angels forever and boats just weren't doing it for me. I need a face to give me a reason to continue painting.