Annual Review 2022

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 Annual Review 2022

 

Bare trees,Praia Moçambique, oil on card, 27.5 x 29.5 cm

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 Travels

 

I travelled to  Scotland in May, to Rio Grande do Sul and inside Santa Catarina. I should have travelled more, I feel- I was unimaginative, or lazy or both. Since mid-December I`ve been in Colombia, however, working hard.

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Social Media

 

Flickr

 I have 667 followers, down from 945.  I no longer subscribe to this site and I guess others also stopped.

Blogger

 There are 86 followers, up by two from last year. There were 17.8000 visitors tracked - up from 40, 300. This figure seems to me to be too high to be credible.

  The most popular countries appear to be USA 46%, Germany 26%, Brazil 6%, Russia 4% and the UK at 3%.

 

Instagram 

 I started using this site again. It is a very nice site with clean graphics and is easy to use. I use two accounts: one for photos and the other for landscape paintings.

That with landscape paintings - tadeusz_deregowski - has 356 followers. The one with photography - tderegowskiphotos - has 98 followers. 

These numbers, in Instagram terms, are very low.

Saachi

I didn't sell anything here.

 

Facebook

 I continue to post here and receive good feedback. It is very good to have a page to post work and maintain a dialogue with the public.

 

 Photography

 

Canasvieiras, roots, wall

 

 

Modest photography

 I took photos from the neighbourhood and of the things I find interesting. Sometimes I wrote texts to accompany these. I am attempting to work with an idea called modest photography. This is about taking photographs which are reserved in tone, not showy or melodramatic and which depict commonplace items.

I also take photographs of things in the neighborhood. Again, my intention is to look at the ordinary in a cool-tempered way.

Painting

 

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 6, trees

 watercolour on paper, 28 x 38.2 cm

 

I worked on a larger size in oils, moving up to a little under A3.

Then, I began to work in watercolour after a hiatus of over twenty years.

 I am not entirely happy with the progress I made with this, and feel I have a few hurdles to overcome: the weightlessness of the medium troubles me.

Writing

 

I wrote several short stories, and a novella. I wrote texts to accompany photos and autobiographical sketches.

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Next year: 2023

 

I will begin t023 in Colombia then proceed to Ecuador. Other than this 2023 has nothing planned. I  wonder if I should set something up? It seems rather bleak to have nothing for June or July? 

Exhibitions and Sales

Sales were slow partly because I did no exhibit except for at the SSA 130 years Annual, in Edinburgh. 

Parting thoughts

Surely it was not just me? 2022 was an odd year, unhappy, filled with neuroses. It felt somehow stagnant, lacking in inspiration, very much one foot in front of the other.

 

But not every day can bring grand victories and I can perhaps take some satisfaction in the steady progress I made in watercolour painting.

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Urussanga, R. Pref. Jacinto de Brida, oil on card, 29.7 x 27.5 cm 

 

 

 

 

 

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Salento, December 30, 2022- a view across a valley

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Salento, December 30, 2022- a view across a valley

 watercolour, A3 SOLD

Salento, December 30, 2022- a view across a valley - detail 

Salento, December 30, 2022- a view across a valley - detail

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Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition 2022

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The Society of Scottish Artists, annual exhibition.

 My two pictures are that at the far left, and that touched by the head of the lady. 

Many thanks to Keith Epps for this photo

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Salento, 27 December 2022

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Salento, 27 December 2022, watercolour, A3

Salento, 27 December 2022 - detail

Salento, 27 December 2022 - detail

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Salento, a valley

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Salento, a valley, watercolour on paper, c. A3

Salento, a valley - detail

The landscape is vast, uncompromising and rich, and painting it can seem a hopeless task, like fitting a whale into a handbag.

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Salento, morning, 24 December 2022

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First the sketch...

Salento, morning, sketch, 24 December 2022, watercolour, A5

...then the larger picture...

Salento, morning, 24 December 2022, watercolour, A3

Salento, morning, 24 December 2022 - detail

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Salento, mid-afternoon

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Salento, mid-afternoon, watercolour on paper, A3 

Salento, mid-afternoon - detail

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The first from Yambolombia Hostel, near Salento, Colombia

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From Yambolombia Hostel,  Salento, A5 sketch, watercolour

The sketch allows me to get into gear.

From Yambolombia Hostel,  Salento, watercolour, A3

From Yambolombia Hostel,  Salento, A3, watercolour- detail

These are the first from the splendidly sited Yambolombia Hostel, near Salento. 

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Stem

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 Stem on the ground

 

 

 A witch's hand 

lay on the ground

 

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Lamp

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Lamp

 

 

 

 

 

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Lagoinha, river

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 Lagoinha, river, watercolour, 40.5 x 29 cm 

 

Lagoinha, river, watercolour- detail

 

 

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Shadow of a bookcase, dado rail

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Shadow of a bookcase, dado rail

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Praia Brava,watercolour; a few things I learnt about watercolour

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Praia Brava, December 2022

 watercolour on paper, 29 x 40.5 cm

I've learnt a few things in the last three months since taking up watercolour again:

 

1. plan the watercolour in pencil

2. the technique does not allow many more than two layers of paint

3. it is best not to mix the colours too much

4. make use of the brushstroke, especially cross hatching,  lines and dots

5. you can't force the picture: I mean, watercolour has its own life, its own energy, and you can't make watercolour do what it can't do.  You need to accept "errors" and "go with the flow"

I think I am ready for my trip to Colombia and Ecuador.

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Canasvieiras, snuffling dog

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Canasvieiras,snuffling dog

 

 

 

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 6, trees

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 6, trees

 watercolour on paper, 28 x 38.2 cm

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 6, trees- detail

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 6, trees- detail

 

 

 

 

 

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Canasvieiras, clouds, lines

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Canasvieiras, clouds, lines

 

 

 

 

 

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A crack, Rua das Sereias, Canasvieiras, a closer view

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A crack, R. das Sereias, Canasvieiras, a closer view

 

 

 This is a closer view of the wall on a previous posting. Isn't it a perfect crack?

 

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A wall with a crack, Rua das Sereias, Canasvieiras

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A wall with a crack, R. das Sereias, Canasvieiras

 

 

 

 

This is one of my favourite places. I love to stand here.

 

 I think it's not just one of my favourite places in my neighbourhood, or in Santa Catarina, but in the entire world.

 

I like to think about what lies behind the wall. I like how nature is overcoming the wall which now has a crack. I like the angle of the corner and the slight slope of the road. I love the sad feeling it all gives.

 

These things make me feel incredibly good.

 

 

 

 

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Canasvieiras, sea, December 12, 2022

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Canasvieiras, sea, December 2, 2022

 watercolour on paper, 40.5 x 28.3 cm

 

 

 

 

Canasvieiras, sea, December 2, 2022 - detail

 

Canasvieiras, sea, December 2, 2022 - detail

My thoughts on watercolour are that when the paper receives more than two brush strokes, the effect is heavy, because transparency is lost. 

So, it is a better to of watercolour in a two layer process, with strokes and dots than with innumerable layers. That makes it a much more graphic medium than oils.

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Part of my arm, a shirt sleeve, and my table

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 Part of my arm, a shirt sleeve, and my table with a piece of paper

 

 

 

 

 

 You will agree that the bunching of my sleeve here has almost an effect like the swags in a Baroque painting. 

 

My arm itself is rather peculiar, perhaps penile, even to me, and I am not sure how I feel about it.

 

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Lost hexagonal paving slab, Canasvieiras; corners; demarcations of areas of land

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Lost hexagonal paving slab, Canasvieiras

 

 

 

This is the same wall as featuring the ladder. I wonder who put this slab here?

 I am very fond of the corners of buildings especially when showing the same colour of wall with the light hitting one side more than the other so you can see a contrast.

 I will definitely seek out more such motifs. 

 I also like wasteland: building lots cleared but never constructed upon, abandoned parking areas, paving dilapidating. 

I very much like these areas to be enclosed, distinct. 

 Merely the fact of enclosure dramatically alters how we perceive a place. Enclosure declares ownership, privacy, usage, safety, danger, that access is limited or directed to specific uses or persons or species. 

Enclosure can be strongly physical, such as a high wall, or more modestly by light fencing. Or it can be even more lightly demarcated by a change of use, such as is seen between fields. And it can be demarcated symbolically, with occasional signs  as in London postal areas, or simply a thing that is known, like the territorial zones established by children in playgrounds.

 

 

 

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Canasvieiras,wall, a sort of ladder,

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Canasvieiras,wall, a sort of ladder,

 

 

It might not really be a ladder: It might be part of an ironing board or some kind of stand. 

What is certain, however, is that it is being used by pixies to get over the grey wall. 

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Trunk, part of a washing line post, wall, house

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 Trunk, part of a washing line post, wall, house

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These items have been here for several weeks now. 

 

The resemblance of the trunk to an animal carcass is obvious and awful.

 It's so obvious, indeed, that it surprises me that there isn't a local campaign to have the trunk removed. 

 

 

 

 

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A white piece of paper on the ground, folded slightly

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A white piece of paper on the ground, folded slightly

 

 

 

 

I now regret not inspecting this piece of paper which might have had some important or interesting things on it. 

 

Now it is raining heavily and the paper is surely destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

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Dog, house, lion, dog

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Dog, house, lion, dog, Canasvieiras

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Home, Canasvieiras

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Home, Canasvieiras

 

 

 

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Canasvieiras,roots, wall

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Canasvieiras, roots, wall

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Rua das Sereias, large stone

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R. das Sereias, large stone

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The moon on the road

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the moon on the road

 

 

 

 

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Canasvieiras, clouds, sea, hut

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 Canasvieiras, clouds, sea, hut, watercolour on paper,  28 x 40 cm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Canasvieiras, clouds, sea, hut - detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canasvieiras, clouds, sea, hut - detail

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