Santa Monica, a tree in the sun

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Santa Monica, a tree in the sun, oil on card, 26 x 28 cm  unavailable

A painting from the nearby suburb of Santa Monica, where I`d move to if I had a bit more money. It`s spacious, leafy has good local serives but isn`t snooty or pretentious.

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The Stories of the Street

 The stories of the street, oil on card, 17 / 15 cm  NOT FOR SALE

A man walking in Santa Monica, oil on card, 14 / 13.5 cm    AVAILABLE

Two new pictures: I stole the title from Leonard Cohen's famous song from his 1967 album, Songs of Leonard Cohen.

The stories of the street are mine
The Spanish voices laugh
The Cadillacs go creeping down
Through the night and the poison gas
I lean from my window sill
In this old hotel I chose.
Yes, one hand on my suicide
And one hand on the rose.

 Cohen's is one of a number of late 60's street songs: there are also good ones by Springsteen and Dylan.

Santa Monica is not really the place, it's much too prim: I want tenement blocks, grandeur, disorder: Harlem, Glasgow, or even parts of Estreito here, where'll I'll soon go to paint similar.

A suburban street, Santa Monica; Italy

 A suburban street, oil on card, 12 / 14 cm  NOT FOR SALE

I have bought myself a little tablet and am playing around with it. I think the camera is just about good enough to mean I can leave the conventional digital at home, and can post images as I go along. Typing on the tablet is fiddly, but it's fine for short entries.

I fly to Italy in a few days time- thank God, as I need fresh ideas: Rome, Puglia, Orvieto, perhaps Lucca, a rough diagonal crossing from Southeast to Northwest.

 Perhaps too much is resting in my mind on the trip- a disadvantage of planning much in advance being that one tends to overload a journey with expectations.

Nocturne: in a new suburb

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Nocturne: in a new suburb, oil on card, 12 / 8.7 cm

Welcome to the new Florianopolis!: faceless blocks showing little imagination, with few green spaces, and little to delight. 

How do people remember which block is theirs?

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Entrance kiosk

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Entrance kiosk, oil on card, 9.5 x 13.5 cm  - available

Such little kiosks a a feature of most public buildings and condominiums here. This one guards the entrance to a gym.

Landscape behind a petrol station, Santa Monica; music in public places

Landscape behind a petrol station, Santa Monica, oil on card, 13.1 x 10 cm - available

Another beautifully sunny day.

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Today I became annoyed about music in a shop: I love music and the stuff they play in shops and restaurants is rubbish. In bars they often play it at such a loud volume that is it difficult to converse without shouting: I don't understand what's wrong with silence.

Moveover, I like to be able to choose when I hear music. There is a campaign against this aural pollution in the UK, but I don't know if there is one here in Brazil.

I often ask for music/muzak to be turned off. There are several usual responses-

1. Patronising, pseudo-concerned: "don't you like this music?" The best response here is, "No. Please turn it off". Usually when you get the pseudo-concern it's a technique to fence you off.

2. "Sorry this is our policy". No further discussion: muzak stays on.

3. "It isn't up to us-it's a head office policy"- muzak stays on. Ask to see the manager and are briskly told the same thing, and given a whole load of bollocks about some survey they did.

4. They turn it down, but not much. So you ask again. If they think you're going to be bolshy, or leave, or you are certain to spend a good sum of money or are the only client you've a good chance of getting the music off alteogether for the period you are there.

5. They turn it down for about two minutes, then turn it back up- as if you won't notice! In this case you ask again. And again, until they realise not to take the piss.

6. They turn it off altogether. This happens occasionally.

7 "But the customers/clients prefer it": an amusing thing to do on getting this line is to ask one of the other customers near, "do you mind if this muzak is turned off". They invariably say "I don't mind if they turn it off, no problem", and continue with whatever they are doing.

As with all complaints, the thing is to be cheerful and polite. This is often difficult as the muzak itself is such an irritant. I often don't enter places with muzak but sometimes they are impossible to avoid.