Books

So, the book fair was OK, people flicking madly though my books as if hoping for something, anything to be there! Ha ha. Perhaps I'd better take my written books along to the next one.
I meant to make multiples of the most popular "written" books but sort of got halfway through figuring it out, then my printer ran out of yellow ink and wouldn't let me print anything at all, even in black and white. Do you know what the printer said to me? It said it couldn't print in black and white without a full yellow cartridge as that would damage it. So I told it to bog off and haven't printed anything for about 3 months which is actually a massive pain in the arse as I've been having to write everything out and that takes a while with knitting patterns..
I was just so cross with HP forcing me to buy more ink that I got stubborn and childish.

To Manchester...

It's the 4th Manchester Artists' Book Fair today or, as some people like to write it, the Manchester Artist's Book Fair, which to me implies that there will be only one artist selling his wares. God bless that man.
Anyway, I've been awake for a while now; I "got up", i.e. made a cup of tea, got the laptop and got back into bed... I discovered that I didn't rinse the conditioner out of my hair properly last night and might have to hop into the shower. I hate showers and I hate washing in the morning! Perhaps a ponytail might fix the problem - it did, the lank greasiness helped make it neat too.
I had a stack of my little handmade business cards and I have completely lost them, I remember thinking when I last saw them that they were in an odd place and that I'd never find them again in a hurry. Why I didn't move them at the time is beyond me.. Time to make some more!

So, Holden Gallery, Manchester, off Oxford Road, 12 - 6pm, come and see all the beautiful books and my not so beautiful ones. No free wine, it's a book fair not a private view.

Happy birthday to you

It was Motorway One's 50th birthday this week you know. I'm not such a big fan of the M1 but I agree that it's pretty useful.

Working on

Had a fun time with this yesterday.. Not finished, just working on...

Lady Grey tea please

Last night was the opening night for my exhibition at RED Gallery in Hull. It was great and really made me think about how materialistic and boring I can be with my painting.
RED's a not-for-profit space and as such, is not all about sales. This is quite odd for me as everywhere else is desperate to sell, sell, sell. In the sales world my drawings do not get much of a look-in; people just don't seem to like them. I hung Lincoln and Barrett at RED thinking that a drawn element would be good alongside the paintings and that drawing is such a huge part of my work anyway even though it's often covered up.

One of the guys at the opening said to me "I liked two of the pieces in your show, guess which ones." yes, it was the drawings. I was so pleased, having lost confidence in my drawn work over the last year or so. I'm going to use my artist's fee from the gallery to fund more Lincoln-esque drawing work and try to break out of my "must sell" mentality. Bet Cy Twombly didn't worry about sales!
"Take a picture of me with Lincoln!"

Oh my God, so on the drive home there were men working on the M62 like industrious ants.. On one section they were resurfacing it and it was raining and the steam rose and billowed around the men and the machines lit by their amazing floodlights and twinkly warning lights and it was so beautiful.. A top ten motorway experience!
I don't like traffic but being at a standstill on the motorway can be quite amazing. I like to open the window and stare at the verge or the fields, see the pylons and hear the traffic rushing by on the other carriageway. It's strange being stopped on such a fast road..

RED Gallery

Went to Hull today to hang the show at RED.. I liked the gallery a lot, it's sort of snug, there are 3 rooms, (4 if you count their admin area) and they lead into each other. There are skylights in each, no windows and it's neat and minimal.
I decided during the trip that my 2010 painting folder will probably be titled "Paintings for the M6" or something motorway-based. I do enjoy driving up and down the M62, even when it's windy and the car's weaving about all over the place but the M6 has my heart. If I could get married on the M6 then I would do.. I could get married TO the M6 and be on one of those Channel 4 weirdo documentaries! Why do I like it so much? I have no idea...

Rowan

Here's something a little embarrassing, me completely forgetting that I have a solo show at RED Gallery in Hull this November. Yes, I forgot. The hanging overlaps with my show at The Courtyard but luckily, as I've been pretty productive this year and had the overlapping shows in February, I have enough work. There it all is above, stacked neatly after I charged round the house finding all the ones on walls.
My Dad doesn't like the paintings on shallow canvas frames; he thinks they look cheap and that that cheapens the work.. I can see where he's coming from.

Here is my inventory and the layout of the gallery waiting for me to draw and plan where I'll hang stuff. I like to plan vaguely although plans always seem to change once I'm standing in a space.

Oh, I had a Rowan binge this morning, justifying it to myself as there's a couple of Christmas presents to come out of the wonderful yarn and my sisters deserve the best! I adore Rowan yarns, especially the Kidsilk Haze (top and far right).
Speaking of far right, I found it quite odd this morning, the papers reporting that the BNP had come out of Question Time rather well with people registering to join.. What people? It's obviously a nutter party and Thursday's Question Time was bloody ridiculous.

Quails

Book stuff... The big books are gorgeous and made from parts of "Pretty g", a piece from 2005.
I found it easier to store my scrap paintings in torn-up sections and sometimes use them as a studio floor covering so they end up dotted and smeared with paint. I actually quite like this, they're like little records of insignificant moments...

Tuna

I went back into the studio last night and saw that I'd painted something you might buy at B&Q or Ikea (above.. not the top one, I like that!)..

Wednesday

Wow. Damien Hirst got slammed didn't he? Read lots of reviews at work today; the guy in The Independent was pretty brutal, Adrian Searle for the Guardian was a bit kinder but still slated the work. I quite like the look of them as a group, I don't know, I guess it's just him really isn't it? I'd have to see them "in the flesh" as it were, see if they gave me a funny feeling in my stomach.
One: Number 31 by Pollock gave me a lump in my throat when I saw it, it's so vast and enveloping and quite amazing.. I read a lot about Pollock during my third year at uni, he was a pretty messy sounding bloke. His work often got slated too but there wasn't really anyone using paint like he did at the time.. Imagine being part of a real art movement, your place cemented in art history.. Got to think big, work hard, like a demon. Read, read, read, push yourself, your work, step out of all your comfort zones, really understand your medium, lose yourself in it.

For the record, my favourite Abstract Expressionist painter is either Kilne or Motherwell. Twombly was making great work during that period too although he never got the same exposure.. Saying that, he might have been studying, I can't remember...
"He is a painter - and sculptor - who defies every category and transcends every cliché: a man who has never been pinned down and is still working, at 80, with tremendous gusto and creative generosity." (Guardian 2008)

I love Twombly best.