Nocturne, Lagoa, November

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Nocturne, Lagoa, November, oil on card, 15 / 12 cm  AVAILABLE

It's been so hot recently that the only thing I can do some afternoons is sleep. But the evenings are cooler, so more nocturnes are in order.

Safety Not Guaranteed (20120: review 5.5/ 10

Washington State: two interns, one a shy Asian, the other a female with no discernible character, are taken by a more experienced journalist to research a small advertisement calling for applicants who wish to return to the past in a time machine.

It transpires that all the major figures in the film have suffered some sort of traumatic experience: the film is about how they reappraise their pasts and form new relationships.

It is well paced, carefully made, occasionally witty, and somewhat smug, as these American slacker films tend to be.

Skyfall (2012): review: 2/10

A list of M15 Agents has been stolen: the thief is publishing the names online. Bond returns from a failed mission in Istanbul and is charged with stopping further publication of the names on the list.

The film includes scenes in Istanbul, Shanghai, Macao, London and the Scottish Highlands. The scenes in Istanbul are exciting, the others less so.

There is no new car but there are two attractive women, one Turkish the other English: neither reveal a great deal of flesh. I am not sure why not.

 Bond himself is quite good, gaunt and serious.

Sadly, however, at the centre of the film is an old  fat grey clucking hen, known as Judi Dench. The director, who has preachy inclinations, plainly wanted to turn the picture into a serious film: hence he attempts to cover such themes as remorse, aging, Britain's role in the world; additionally, Bond's character is implicitly psycho-analysed as that of a orphan. It is implied that he may have had homosexual experiences too. Also his enjoyment of alchohol is tut-tutted.

All this sententiousness would be intolerable even if the the film were competently written. It isn't, and moreover it misses the point about Bond totally, notably that we love Bond not because he as touchy-feely liberal values, but because he doesn't.

Boats, Lagoa, 11 am

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Boats, Lagoa, 11 am, oil on card, 14.5 / 10.5 cm   available

Painted at near the moorings in Lagoa. One of a number of yacht paintings I've done- an obvious subject, and for good reasons.

 As so often in painting the secret is knowing how much to say and how much to leave unsaid, so the viewers imagination can play,

Framed pochades

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Valparaiso

A model posing as a Cezanne

The sea: Praia Mole

Small Pines

The Dunes

Framed pochade

Heath, near Praia Mocambique, oil on card, 13 x 13 cm 2012   SOLD

Framing

Small paintings can be especially effective if hung in clusters: The National Gallery, London has a fine room featuring small Danish, French and German nineteenth century painting.

As will be apparent from the reflections, some of the pictures are glazed. It's unusual to glaze oil paintings but it was thought wise as a protective measure in these cases.

The Dunes was framed so that there is a physical space between it and its box frame: an effect good for contemporary styled locations. An elaborate, gilt framing might, contrariwise, emphasise the 19th century stylistic roots of my work, and suit a more traditionally decorated hanging space.

So the frames we use can emphasise one quality or other of the picture, including interprative elements, and allow it to work more or less sympathetically within a space.

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Pink Flowers: among recent sales

Pink Flowers, oil on card, 10.9 x 7.9 cm  SOLD

This painting, was sold recently with four others. These can be found using the index work below, "sold".

Urubici: three more

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 Urubici: bright sunshine, oil on card, 18 / 13.8 cm   SOLD

 Urubici, bright sunshine, oil on card, 16 / 14.5 cm

Urubici- street oil on card, 13 x 9.4 cm - available

More landscapes from my recent trip.

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