My strange life

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My strange life

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Sunspot

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Sunspot

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Rush matting in my room

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Rush matting in my room

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In my living room

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In my living room, early March, 2023

 

 

 

There's been a change to this corner of the living room: that is, the Croton has appeared on the stool, replacing the Peace lily, which is now on the floor on left.

The Croton plant, in the conical clay vase, has a distinct personality: insistent yet in no way vulgar. 

What's it trying to say?

 It's a new arrival and I'm concerned about its well-being: after I had purchased it, I was siting in the cafe area of the shop and  was approached by another customer who told me about he he had purchased and planted six similar plants in his garden, all of which had been entirely consumed by ants.

 But he then added that if the plant were kept in a vase he thought it would be all right. Did he say that simply to close the conversation pleasantly, or was it something he he really believed? 

I don't know, and I doubt I'll ever find out.

Perhaps the plant wishes to tell us: "I'm still a stranger here, see me! Afford me the care and protection that is my due."

The detective in a Panama hat observes...

 

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My bed

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Where I sleep

Sleep 

This is where I lie down and try to sleep. 

I don't like lying there trying to sleep. I don't like thinking about the day and watching thoughts accumulate. I don't like thinking about the day that was or the day to come and what it might mean. These thoughts so often bring anxieties. I just want to fall rapidly into unconsciousness, plunging into a soft abyss.

Recently, I've been waking up early in the mornings. Then, I  try to go back to sleep. Sometimes I manage. I don't want to get up very early because when I do I feel an emptiness.

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There is another photo of my bed that I'll publish another day. It's less classical.  I may do a series about sleep and going to bed. It's a massively unexplored subject, considering how much of our life is spent doing it.

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The white teapot

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The white teapot, oil on card, 12.5 x 12 cm - available

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At home: 333 Antuerpia

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Saki

Clip-on sunglasses

 Plant

Life.

Glass

Velazquez

Horse's mouth

Home

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My place

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Beetles

Muse

Donkey, Tiger

January, 2017

Tijucas

Tom Waits

Apartment

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My place

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Master

Wildlife

Face

Ezra

Tin

Bowl

Jug

Scallop

Cufflink

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Flower

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A Flower

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Curtains

Curtains, oil on card, 12.5 x 14 cm

It`s great to be working with high fast colour. I love laying out the colours and mixing them just seeing what happens when they meet.

Do we really need an obvious subject for a painting to be enjoyable?

Vase of flowers, the green room, Miro.

Vase of flowers, the green room, oil on card, 12 x 15 cm unavailable

More work about my apartment. I`m finding great delight in brighter colours these days, really pushing them out, trying to keep them bright and sharp.

 There are fantastic Miros that feature an expanse of blue punctuated by a dot or dash of red,(such as Blue III, 1961)paintings that seem to be all about timing, and are so very musical and full of humour, and which I wish I could easily visit for inspiration.

A friend

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A friend, oil on card, 15 x 11 cm  -  available

A corner of my room. The flat has boxes of Ensorian items which I put in storage, in boxes. They were collected when I was painting still lives in gloomy London. The visual language I used for still life there was, naturally, an extension of that huge and yet most eccentric of North European capitals, a place where so much is hidden behind circumspection. Thus, I developed a style had antecedent in Fantin-Latour and and Ensor.

This didn't translate to this context- Brazil- but finally I`ve found a way, via the interior, to revisit the still life.

Bottles in the kitchen

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Bottles in the kitchen, oil on card, 13 x 16 cm - available

A bottle in a cupboard, oil on card, 13 x 10 cm

Continuing the pictures about my place and my things.

My place

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 Painting junk, oil on card, 9.3 x 12 cm unavailable

Where I sleep, oil on card, 12.5 x 13 cm  unavailable

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