Pyramid

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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. 

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Shadow on a bedroom wall

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Shadow in a bedroom, Canasvieiras

I sleep in this room. I've slept here now for two weeks. But I've yet to recall any dream. 

Do you think the dreams you have are connected to the former inhabitants of the places in which you are sleeping? 

Perhaps I do. The idea needn't be mystical. It could be that the changes they made to the place impart an atmosphere or make suggestions to your unconscious mind. So, for instance, the marks on a door, the wear on a floor or how a window has a tiny crack tell a story of how they lived, and this story might unconsciously influence you and your dreams.

When, for the first time,  I entered this place with the estate agent I immediately felt a neutrality about it, as if there was nothing to be cleared away: a spiritual blandness, which would make it easy for me to own and occupy. i thought, I can live here. Other places had a density, history.

 In previous lives, I wanted a sense of a past in the places I live. But now I seem to be in another phase and I want newness, lightness, ease.  I feel this place, this new place is some how free from, or even bereft of, ghosts. I dream less than I used to.

Nowadays I want to die into sleep with no moment to think on the pillow. So I stay up and listen to music until I am certain to be tired. I listen to jazz and sometimes classical but nothing too pompous or neurotic. I often go for simple melancholy singers like Bryan Ferry or Nat King Cole.

 I do nothing but listen, with low lighting. 

I am very keen on experiencing single sense activities, so my concentration is as much as possible on one thing. Partly this idea is relates to avoiding wastefulness, and because of respect for the music. It seems wasteful to play music and not listen. Yes, I know that`s an eccentric, even foolish notion, but I can`t escape it. And partly, single sense listening is just about  more complete immersion in the sounds.

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Cortes 20.00

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Cortes 20.00, Canasvieiras

 I like the black and white photographs of the barbered. The effect is rather punk: there is indeed a mohican in the top right corner. But I do wonder if the punk aesthetic is intentional. I rather doubt it. Punk and Florianopolis really don't combine. Punk is too engaged. Everything here is so laid back.

 I haven`t been to this barber`s and I don`t know if I dare.

 I passed a barber shop here which has just one chair, as if it should really be in a huge city like New York, beside a subway station, to serve hurried commuters.

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My coming to live here did not seem willed. It was more as if I were waved by a giant invisible hand, or pulled by a gigantic magnet. 

Coming here to live was my Covid 19 thing: a response to the sense Covid 19 gave me that I 'd be in Brazil for the rest of my life, and should find a place of my own and settle my my differences with the country. It made me accept the idea of having a home- something which I had always resisted. 

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Broken chair, Canasvieiras

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Broken chair, Canasvieiras

This chair and table have been here for at least two weeks. 

The last time I passed the chair had toppled over entirely but, perhaps as a drunk will carefully be returned to his seat by his drinking companions having fallen over, it has since been righted -so far as is possible given its strange, lopsided condition.

Exactly how two of the chair`s legs ended up shorter than the others is a puzzle. The sitter would have to be remarkably obese to achieve this, and skillful besides, given the how the two legs snapped to the same length.

Canasvieiras is full of things like this. I am not sure why. But as this is where I now live they are likely to feature here with some frequency.

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Annual Review 2020

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2020

Pale tree

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Travels

There was one long trip to central Chile.

The Chile trip was a bit strange. I was mostly unhappy for mysterious reasons. Perhaps, because of that I didn`t miss the travel restrictions that Corona virus brought (though as I type I feel a sudden strong melancholy urge to be in New York, where you feel quite free in a way I don't sense anywhere else).

Anyway, I did a few good paintings, including these:

Melipueco, Chile, with itinerant, oil on card 25 x 22 cm

Gardens, Villarrica, Chile, oil on card, 20 x 22 cm

I had intended to do Patagonian Chile in January coming, but that is not possible. 

I had an exhibition at UDESC, the state university, but it was closed after the first few days due to COVID. The exhibition itself was badly managed by CEART, who did everything at the last minute in a a slapdash, even contemptuous fashion. There is a lot of fuss being made about cuts to arts in Brazil, but if this agency is typical, and I fear it might be, then they do not deserve to receive public funds.  

With COVID, the automatic clamouring for public funds among artists was incredible. It seemed inconceivable to  many artists, who eagerly signed ´petitions demanding state assistance, that they might work doing whatever was required to pay rent. Many appeared to believe that society should treat them as essential labour in the same level as police or medical workers.

 I worked very steadily and efficiently in Florianopolis, on the island, increasing the size of paintings, the brightness of their colours, and, I feel, using social isolation constructively.

On the way to Cacupe, settlement

 oil on card, 24.3 x 29.7 cm

The dunes, a rise, oil on card, 20 x 25 cm

I am very happy with this one (above).

Trees by a lake, Winter, Lagoa, oil on card, 28 x 25.8 cm

Above Lagoa, early July, 2020, oil on card 26 x 28 cm

I started to visit the rocky coastline on the south of the island. It's fairly quick to get to on the new road:

Rocks, sea, sky Armacao, oil on card, 26 x 28 cm

I also occupied my time with taking photographs, and writing short essays.

 Thus, the year passed.

 I like being alone and did not suffer as much as I usually do. I found the empty streets pleasing and the silence calming. I don't like shopping or crowds so their absence made me happier. I enjoy thinking and I resolved some things about where to live and what to do with the next bit of my life.

I am 51 and it seems that I am entering some other life phase, one characterised by greater self assurance and settlement. I also realised something very obvious, which is that much of what happens to us is arbitrary, and we have only some control over how much and how we interact with this. Ergo, there is little sense in getting too worked up about anything much, though it is wise, of course,  to take precautions.

You will quite possibly think how platitudinous and I daresay you might have a point, but personally speaking, until recently such banal truths were never as obvious to me as they ought to have been and they do therefore have some consequence for me.  

And, slightly wiser, I advance into 2021.

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Social Media

Flickr

I'm not a member any more and I can't post new images as I have reached their non-member limit. 2.3 million all time views. I have 952 followers: a slight decrease from 959.

Blogger

There are 84 people listed: the same as ever. Why does this never increase? Presumably because my Blog can be tracked in other ways, and it isn't necessary for followers to declare themselves. 

Looking at the statistics page with its graphs, for the last 12 months I see: 25,700 visitors, with a peak day on 7 August with 426 views. 

Top countries in terms of percentages are Italy (32%) USA (32%); Russia (4%); UK (4%); Turkmenistan (4%). In absolute numbers: Italy (8.18K); USA (8.15K); Russia (1.16K); UK (1.07K); Turkmenistan (930);

It is surprising how low the UK is, and how high Italy.   

Instagram

There are 287 followers, up from 221. This site is very good for introducing people to your work. It is very easy to use, with excellent editing functions and keywording so you can link your work to that of others. 

I also have an Instagram Account dedicated to photography. It has 46 followers: tderegowskiphotos

Twitter

I have 238 followers. Down a little from 247. I never use this site as I find it dominated by an unpleasant style of discourse. In any case, it isn't really for showing pictures.

Saachi and other sales

There were no sales with Saachi. There was one sale this year, of a Moroccan painting.

A lane, Marrakech, oil on card, 16 x 15.5 cm   SOLD

Facebook

I continue to use this excellent site to talk about art and photography. It is a very good site for artists to use, as through it's "pages" you can create bridges between your personal and creative existences. 

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The future

I move house shortly and, that resolved, and the vaccine available, normal life can perhaps resume. For me that means going at some point to the UK, most likely in late Spring. Then, if at all possible, a visit to Andalucia. But that is in the hands of the Gods.

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Distant rocks, Armação

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Armação, distant rocks, oil on card, 26 x 28 cm  unavailable

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A curled leaf

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Curled leaf

Something I like about this is how much it resembles a piece of Art Nouveau ironwork. Those arabeques are so satisfying.

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