Pyramid

*

Pyramid

These enchanting gems were bought in Beiramar mall at a stall near the bookshop. I bought them , furtively: they seemed such a wanton luxury, and I didn't permit myself to open the bag in the street but waited until I had made to my car thence all the way back to Trindade and up my stairs and through the door to open the bag and deliriously pop the sweetie into its rightful home... 

And I can declare without equivocation  that they are magnificent, their platonic geometry so pleasingly contradictory in the rounded wet cushioned cavern of the mouth. It's a huge pleasure to feel their edges soften, and the rough sugar surface  melt into smooth salival syrup: intoxicating. 

 The sugar encrusting, so blatant, so bling, suggests the most decadent moments of the 1920s- very Gatsby- as are those wonderful Deco colours.

They are surely the most jewel-like of our sweets so far, and the most suggestive of mystical transportation. 

*

Beiramar

*

Beiramar, 6 May, 2019, oil on card, 27 x 24.5 cm  SOLD

A return to Beiramar after a few years to working here.  This time the scale is larger and the work can be more gestural.

*

Beiramar Avenue, sea

*

Beiramar Avenue, sea, oil on card, 10 x 14 cm  SOLD

This was painted as part of a series back in 2013, but for some reason not posted. It's rather romantic, reminiscent of Boudin or Monet. 

*

April in Britain and France: Part Two: Paris

*

 Paris, oil on card, 16 x 18.5 cm    AVAILABLE

 Montmartre, oil on card, circa 18 x 16 cm     Available at No 31 Gallery

The two above are the result of my perambulations in central Paris: not an especially easy place for painting, given the crowds of tourists who make it difficult to work peacefully. And, as a generality, famous landmarks rarely make for good paintings, as it is very difficult to develop an original attitude to them. But I am very pleased with my Eiffel Tower picture.

I would have been better off with an easel: I have since acquired a portable one: rather heavy.

The three below are from or near my little apartment in the 12th Arrondissement, Bercy, which I found more satisfactory, partly because there is so much space to work, and partly because it is not really part of the museum city, and has industrial and railway features that, aestheticised, have a definite anarchic visual appeal.

For many painters, French painting is a touchstone: this is certainly the case for me, and a trip to France is in some way inevitably a homage, specifically in my case to painters such as Utrillo or the Impressionists. I think my picture of Montmarte has sufficient Utrillo in it to count as a homage.

Railways, Bercy, oil on card 16 x 18 cm  - available

This picture, above, has many damp spots

 Bercy, looking West, oil on card, 16.5 x 22.5 cm  AVAILABLE

Near  Bois de Vincennes, Paris. oil on card, 16 x 18 cm     AVAILABLE

Rooftops, Bercy, Paris, oil on card, 16 x 18 cm  AVAILABLE

*


Many thanks to Frédéric Glorieux for his kindness in Paris.

*

Beiramar Avenue, clouds and sea

*

Beiramar Avenue, clouds and sea, oil on card, 16.5 x 14.5 cm  SOLD





*

Trees on a promontory

Trees on a promontory, oil on card, 15.5 x 18.5 cm

Clouds over the sea

*

 Clouds over the sea 2, oil on card, 14.5 x 10.5 cm

 Painted quickly: great cloud movements after days of dullness.




*

Beiramar, session 12: final session

 Beiramar XXV, session 12, 6pm, oil on card, 14 x 12.5 cm - available

 Beiramar XXVII, session 12, 6pm, oil on card, 14 x 8.5 cm  - available

 Beiramar XXVI, session 12, 6pm, oil on card, 15 x 11 cm  - available

These are the final paintings for 12x12x12.

 Doing a thematic run like this is a good way of forcing oneself to experiment, and I have ried to use it to play more with brushwork and paint.

Headland, Beiramar

Headland, Beiramar, oil on card,12.7 x 13.6 cm  SOLD

Painted at the Agronomica end of Beiramar Avenue.

I painted here before on a much bigger scale: I overworked the peice and it lost its charm, becoming heavy.

A little fishing boat off Beiramar Avenue

A little fishing boat off Beiramar Avenue, oil on card, 14.8 x 11.7 cm   SOLD

I do not know what they are fishing for: they come quite close to shore, and there is a fellow standing, using the oar as if on a punt.

The red car

The red car, oil on card, 12.5 x 9.1 cm

Tomorrow, all being well, I shall make my way to Itaiopolis, on old Polish-Ukrainian settlement to the north of here, an hour west of Blumenau: there is quite an impressive church there.

It is also an excuse to get off this claustrophobic island. Maybe I will spend the night there and do some art.