Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho: charred tree

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Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho: charred tree

 watercolour on paper, A3

 

 

 

Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho: charred tree - detail

 

 

In the next two weeks I'll explore thin formats - rather Chinese.

 

 

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A bowl and four tomatoes

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A bowl and four tomatoes, oil on card, 15.3 x 13 cm - unavailable

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A visit to the Serra Catarinense: Alfredo Wagner

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Alfredo Wagner, afternoon, houses, oil on card, 14 x 14.5- available

 Alfredo Wagner, buildings on a hillside, oil on card, 12.5 x 14.5 cm  unavailable

Both of these were painted from my room in the excellent Saolo Hotel. The breakfast was lacking (why is the coffee in Brazilian hotels so dreadful?*) but you can't really complain for 60R$ a night.

Both paintings are a success- following the terms I have set myself- lively, bright and harmonious,, successful in their description of the sensation of the place, and optimistic. They were rapidly executed, but behind them lie many failed pictures.

 It is important in this style of painting not to contradict oneself: if the piece is about immediacy of impression and spontaneity of response, then one must avoid the temptation to correct, one must accept and work with errors or clumsy marks, incorporating them into the composition: a Chinese virtue.

*part of a larger question: why is the coffee in Brazil so dreadful? Yes, there are occasional fancy cafes where it is good. Here in Floripa there are two, established by Australians. But the standard stuff in bakeries and ordinary restaurants is  dishwater, Stock reply- because the best coffee goes for export. As with all stock replies, one wonders if: a. this is really true and, b. why would it be true? Surely separating some bags of beans for a luxury domestic market would be easy? The same arguments circulate about chocolate.

 Alfredo Wagner, bushes on a hill, oil on card, 13,4 x 11.8 cm  available

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Flowers (Ziggy Stardust)

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Flowers (Ziggy Stardust), oil on card, 16.5 x 14 cm  -available

the surface of this picture is pitted and has picked up dust

I am trying to incorporate, and have been for some time, some ideas from Japanese and Chinese art about leaving aspects of surface plain, the play between mark and non-mark, void and presence. And I also want to developing, from Eastern painting, an attitude in which I accept unintentional events on the picture field as as possibilities, instead of necessarily "correcting" them to suit an a priori schema.

Today`s music was by Bauhaus: their fine cover of Bowie`s Ziggy Stardust never fails to delight:

Ziggy played for time, jiving us that we were voodoo

The kid was just crass, he was the nazz

With God given ass

He took it all too far but boy could he play guitar

Making love with his ego Ziggy sucked up into his mind

Like a leper messiah

When the kids had killed the man I had to break up the band.

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As ever, I bow before the greatness of Fantin-Latour.

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A Moroccan Adventure: Sidi Ifni; conclusions

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Sidi Ifni is an old Spanish town, notable for its collection of white and blue Art deco(-ish) buildings, and good state of preservation, and its fine location on a ridge overlooking the sea.

I did a good deal of my work there from the hotel, which had excellent views across the town and beyond.

Headland, oil on card, 14 x 16 cm - unavailable

Fort, oil on card, 12 x 15 cm - damaged, unavailable

A view from the hotel roof, oil on card, 12.5 x 14.5 cm  - available

This, above, has some affinities with C. R. Mackintosh's French watercolours.

Roofs, oil on card, 12.2 x 15.5 cm  SOLD

People in the street, oil on card, 12.5 x 12.5 cm

And this, above, is quite related to the Ourzazate street pictures. I am attempting a more fluent, almost cartoonish, method of brush handling, which I have been attempting to import from Chinese painting.

 A caravan park, oil on card, 17.5 x 17 cm

 There are a couple from my wanderings around the town too:

A man working in a smallholding, oil on card, 13.5 x 15 cm  SOLD

A terrace, oil on card, 12.3 x 15 cm  SOLD

Sidi Ifni, oil on card, 12.5 x 15 cm  SOLD

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That brings to a close my offerings from Morocco.

There are a few weaker pieces, but that is always to be expected given my methods: I work plein air, and  do not make sketches beforehand. I am not a studio painter: I enjoy the element of risk that comes from working directly from motifs outside, and I enjoy being directly exposed to places.  And I tend to philosophise that without failures there would be no triumphs anyway.

It is always hard to make a fair assessment of ones own work, especially when little time has passed since their execution, but I feel the percentage of duds is low, and of good ones high, and that compared to previous North African trips to Tunisia and Egypt, this set is larger and more assured. The colours are more confidently handled and the pictures are bigger.

Partly this success is simply due to knowing which subjects to avoid- those which don`t suit the format, or motifs which, for whatever subjective reasons, don`t quite suit me. In addition, Morocco is a relatively easy place to visit and work in: more relaxed and, I sensed, more at ease with itself and with Europeans than either Egypt or Tunisia.

With such reflections I am considering a second Moroccan Adventure next year, but this time going to Fez, Tangier, Meknes and the cypress forests just south of there.

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To see or buy paintings please visit this gallery:

 ROSE ISSA PROJECTS

82 Great Portland Street London W1W 7NW 

T 0207 602 7700. T 0207 323 1710

 E info@roseissa.com

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 Thanks

I must thank: parents, kind strangers, the amusing Dutch, German and British tourists who kept me company in various hotels, and of course Rose Issa for her encouragement.

A tree, Praça dos Bombeiros

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A tree, Praça dos Bombeiros, oil on card, 14.5 x 16 cm  - available

Painted in the centre , under Eastern influences.

Coffee-making things

Coffee-making things, oil on card, 13 x 12 cm

Part of an ongoing series of still-lives in which I try to explore spacial representation more and play around with qualities of paint.

Paintings from my flat

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 The green workroom, oil on card, 14.7 x 14.7 cm - available

the picture above  has some discolouration on the upper left corner

 Stuff on a table, oil on card, 12 x 14.5 cm

Pots on a stove, oil on card, 11.5 x 14 cm  SOLD

Four pictures from the my place: very much under eastern influences, and I hope they feel fresh and lively.


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Getting ready for 12x12x12

I`m going to paint 12 pictures in four days for this creative project: http://www.facebook.com/12in12x12

It`s primarily a musical project intended to inspire bands, but it`s open to other art forms too.

I`ll be using only black paint and the pictures will bear some relation to Chinese ink drawing. Illustrated above are the supports.