Host of Angels

Just put on my T-tree oil face cream from Body Shop, forgetting that Twig the kit is obsessed with that kind of smell; there is little more tickly and disturbing than a furry kitten sniffing every inch of your face including nostrils, eyes... when I do my teeth she tries to french kiss me to get the minty flavour. Freak.

Officially finished the last of the angels tonight; at least the last of the angels for the Christmas show at Ritchie's. Something tells me that after this year I may be painting the winged ones for a long time to come, at least on and off; they really strike a chord with people and I have a feeling its more the wings and the flying than any religious connotation they have held in the past. That and the 'guardian angel' idea, which, lets face it, we could all do with being true. Flying is freedom is self at its finest; escape from the humdrum and the ability to see all. The last in the line for this show, but the first in her own little series (could only be 'of two, but we shall see) is 'The Adventures of Bun Hanzo'. Bun is, or was, the wayward and adventurous daughter of the legendary swordsmith Hattori Hanzo of 'Kill Bill' fame; killed at seventeen in an ill-advised duel she quickly assumed the role of guardian angel to the young women of her village and performed her trademark acrobatic martial arts all the better for the addition of a set of wings. She was also a school champion jive dancer, a fact that influences her 'moves' in the arena of life-saving, ass-kicking angel work; always impeccably dresssed in her trademark floral platforms, frowned upon in her teen years but relished in her role in the afterlife. Bun epitomises the survival spirit and devil-may-care attitude idolised by her mortal peers and her presence, sensed but never witnessed, has created a powerful underground mythology among her target audience.

I am thinking of writing up all the narratives that have evolved this year to accompany the show; from Madame Tabere, the Engel flusterer to the 'roof of the world' messenger angels via the tree dwellers that kicked off the project and the very lovely Bun Hanzo.... quite a cast.

Feeling once again the trepidation which quite understandably comes from the idea of putting up your artistic output for the last six months on general show. Will anyone bother to see it? Will they like what they find? Am I barking up the wrong tree entirely - my target audience is unclear to me still. While I would love to have my paintings on my wall and know there are others out there who feel the same, I don't have the commercial clout of so many others, I think that goes without saying and is something I will have to live with; but I am me and thus unique.

On that note I shall adjourn to the studio, empty easel in place, and set about some of my more commercial projects; the little box canvases are selling well and regularly and I enjoy doing them, so what's to complain about. They also give me good ideas as I tend to paint them straight out of my head, so any path can appear before me. Let's see.