Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, large tree

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, large tree

 watercolour, A2

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, large tree - detail

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 25, 2023, watercolour

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 25, 2023

 watercolour, A2

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 22, 2023

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 22, 2023,

watercolour, A2

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 21, 2023

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 21, 2023

watercolour, A2

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 21, 2023 - detail

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funnel

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funnel

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Annual Review 2023

 

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Annual Review 2023

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, trees, August, watercolour, A2

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 Travels

 In 2023 I travelled to Ecuador. I went to the UK and to Andalucia, Spain. I didn`t do any painting in Spain. 

 

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Social Media

 

Flickr

 I have 946 followers. 

Blogger

 There are 86 followers, no increase. There were 94,800 visitors tracked. Some of these must be bots. Singapore the USA and Germany are most visiting locations.

 

Instagram 

That with landscape paintings - tadeusz_deregowski - has 392  followers, up from 365. The one with photography - modestphotographybytderegowski- has 116 followers. 

These numbers, in Instagram terms, are very low.

Saachi

I didn't sell anything here. I suspended the account as I am re-cataloguing everything, and will relaunch when I return to the UK

 

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 

 

Three tomatoes in a bowl on a table:

 also a ketchup bottle, a paper bag,

 a patterned plate and a ring pull seal from a milk carton

 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, 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

 

  I continued to work in watercolour, moving up to A2.

 I don`t know if I`m falling out of love with watercolour. I do miss the chunkiness and texture of oils. I also miss mixing the colours.

 

Writing

 

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

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Next year: 2024

 

I really only have one plan- to return to the UK. I'm not sure where I'll live. I need to get back, then I can orientate myself.

Why return? I thought- I have done what I can here, I`ve crossed over the arc. If I stay on here it will be because of laziness or cowardice. Also, I thought, I don`t belong here. It  just  isn`t  mine. I thought about this stuff a lot over the last few years. Then something just clicked in my brain and I resolved to return.

I want to reassert my belonging to the UK. Even if there are a  lot of things I don`t like there, at least I understand it.

There are many benefits to living here in Brazil- it`s cheap and the weather is pleasant. Moving back to the UK will have challenges.

I imagine that it might be nice to paint Aberdeen in all its myriad grays. 

Exhibitions and Sales

Sales were surprisingly good, about fifteen sales in total. No exhibitions. 

Also...

  I went through the portfolio and have removed a lot of items - a sustained critical action which caused me a little pain but also definite relief. 

In removal is an  affirmation of specific critical criteria. 

 

 

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Framed- Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, 21 June, 2023

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, 21 June, 2023

 watercolour, A2 = framed - sold

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 13, 2023

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 13, 2023

 watercolour, A2

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, December 13, 2023 - detail

This is on the cheaper, Canson, paper. It gives less precision.

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December 11, 2023, Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho - watercolour

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December 11, 2023, Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho

 watercolour, A2

December 11, 2023, Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho

 -detail 

December 11, 2023, Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho

 -detail 

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, trees seen from a ridge

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, trees seen from a ridge

watercolour on paper, A2

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A roll of masking tape on a trestle table, an apron strap

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A roll of masking tape on a trestle table, an apron strap

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Two pigeons- it's time to go to jail

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Two pigeons- it's time to go to jail

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Five photos recording  about two minutes in Canasvieiras today. 

The pigeons exhibited a good degree  of companionship, arriving, walking, pecking and leaving together. 

The brevity of their visit makes me feel that perhaps they were disappointed in what they might have found, or not found, on the street.

The graffiti in 1. states Ta  na hora ja ir pra cadeia - it's time to go to jail- and almost certainly refers to former president Jair Bolsonaro.

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As Gatas Chinesas- The Chinese Cats- exhibition poster

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As Gatas Chinesas- The Chinese Cats- exhibition poster from 2007. 

Attendance at the exhibition was extremely poor.

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Templates used to produce invitations to an exhibition at The Blue Elephant Theatre, 2002

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1. Image taking from a painting Drinking and Smoking Again.

2. Image taken from the painting Such Indulgence

3. Image taken from an untitled monotype

4. Image taken from Drinking and Smoking Again.

Templates used to create invitations to an exhibition at The Blue Elephant Theatre in 2002. EEach is about A6.

My exhibition resulted from my success in a competition inviting people to exhibit.

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The Strange Towers, invitation to Caroline Nonweiler's gallery in Crouch End, 2002

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The Strange Towers: invitation to Caroline Nonweiler's gallery in Crouch End. 

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The Ideal City - an invitation from 2002

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Exhibition invitation to The Ideal City at P.O.S.K. in 2002

This exhibition of monotypes was in Hammersmith at the Polish Cultural Centre, and included the launch of John Eccleston's excellent short story, The Ideal City, in booklet form.

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A Russian Play - an invitation from 2001

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"A Russian Play", at the Metro Cinema - A6

Here is the invitation from this exhibition, in London's Metro Cinema, which closed in 2004.

 The show featured paintings and monotypes.

W. J. Eccleston's excellent short story- The Vicious Pixie was distributed at the opening in booklet form. 

The painting title came from Gershwin's But Not for Me, which I know from Chet Baker's version:

They're writing songs of love, but not for me

A lucky star's above, but not for me

With love to lead the way

I've found more clouds of grey

Than any Russian play could guarantee.

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, trees on a hillside

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho

trees on a hillside. watercolour, A2

Painted with new Japanese brushes- a gift from Keith Epps- many thanks - and using the supposedly superior Winsor and Newton Professional watercolours: I cannot detect a difference with their cheaper Cotman series.

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Egypt, arch, 2013

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Egypt, arch, oil on card,  12.5 x 9 cm, 2013  SOLD

This simple picture was, for some reason (probably because it was delivered to the Union Gallery and not properly photographed beforehand) not included in the Egypt sets here. 

My feeling is that is was painted in Aswan but I am not sure.

The Union Gallery has since closed- I`ve retrieved works held by them and I can finally show it, ten years later.

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Santinho, hillside

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Santinho, hillside, watercolour, A2

Santinho, hillside - detail

Santinho, hillside

A day of immense loveliness.

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, August, trees

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, trees, August, watercolour, A2

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, trees, August - detail

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Praia Brava, grey day

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Praia Brava, grey day, watercolour, A2

Praia Brava, grey day - detail

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Santinho, hill

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Santinho, hill, watercolour, A2

Santinho, hill - detail

I liked painting here so much that I might go back tomorrow, thus breaking my rule about going to the same site two days in a row.

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The Garden of Gethsemene

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The Garden of Gethsemene

Monotypes, 2004

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No 1

No 2

No 3 - SOLD

No 4

No 5 - SOLD

No 6 SOLD

No 7

No 8

No 9

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N.B. The numeration is for identification and does not describe the order in which the prints were made, which I have forgotten.

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