Saturday, December 21, 2019
INTERNET ADDICTION
I've devised a quiz which is either irrelevant fluff or serious
research. Either way I welcome honest answers even if the
truth is embarassing. I posted this on Facebook as it's more relevant to social media addicts than it is to bloggers' and other sober internet users but here goes anyway.
1. When you have posted something online, how many times a day do you click back to check for reactions?
2. When you check back are you already on your computer or phone engaged in digital activity?
1. When you have posted something online, how many times a day do you click back to check for reactions?
2. When you check back are you already on your computer or phone engaged in digital activity?
3. If you're not online, do you interrupt whatever else you're doing in order to click back again?
4. How long do you spend, after you've checked your own online contribution, just clicking here and there to see who is saying what about this or that?
5. Do you think your answers to my questions indicate a serious addiction to digital media?
6. What kind of rehab would you, me, or any other addict of this type be willing and able to undertake?
4. How long do you spend, after you've checked your own online contribution, just clicking here and there to see who is saying what about this or that?
5. Do you think your answers to my questions indicate a serious addiction to digital media?
6. What kind of rehab would you, me, or any other addict of this type be willing and able to undertake?
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Friday, December 13, 2019
UK ELECTION RESULT: WHAY HAVE WE DONE?
Thoroughly disgusted, revolted and appalled not only by the jaw-dropping
choice so many people have made of giving carte blanche to Boris
Johnson.....BORIS JOHNSON???....and his gang to decide the future of
this country, but by the smug faces of presenters on all the news
channels spouting words words words, puffs of smelly smoke signifying
absolutely nothing when they should be crying:
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
ELECTION UPDATES
For the benefit of those who are not in the UK, or who are here but somehow managing to avoid the crucial issues facing us, here are some extracts from the news. They are chosen by me so, of course, you may say they are biased. I don't mind being biased in this case. The facts spek for themselves.
.BRITISH DIPLOMAT RESIGNS OVER BREXIT HALF-TRUTHS
GEORGE MONBIOT ON THE POWER OF JEREMY CORBYN
FAKE NEWS IN THE UK ELECTION
DAVID GRAEBER ON THE ANISEMITISM ISSUE
WE'VE CRUNCHED THE NUMBERS
FIVE REASON WE DON'T HAVE A FREE PRESS IN THE UK
WHY DO I HAVE TO BREAK AN EMBARGO TO EXPOSE PRESS LIES ABOUT LABOUR?
.BRITISH DIPLOMAT RESIGNS OVER BREXIT HALF-TRUTHS
GEORGE MONBIOT ON THE POWER OF JEREMY CORBYN
FAKE NEWS IN THE UK ELECTION
DAVID GRAEBER ON THE ANISEMITISM ISSUE
WE'VE CRUNCHED THE NUMBERS
FIVE REASON WE DON'T HAVE A FREE PRESS IN THE UK
WHY DO I HAVE TO BREAK AN EMBARGO TO EXPOSE PRESS LIES ABOUT LABOUR?
Friday, December 06, 2019
PLACE YOUR BIDS NOW!
Laydeez Do Comics Art Auction Fundraiser week is NOW live on ebay!
Sixteen brilliant artists, including moi, have donated original work to raise funds for the 2020 LDC Award and you have only until 12th December to place your bid on ebay. Do it now!
Sixteen brilliant artists, including moi, have donated original work to raise funds for the 2020 LDC Award and you have only until 12th December to place your bid on ebay. Do it now!
And (after you've voted of course) there's a party at the Cartoon Museum on Thursday 12th December. All welcome.
Below is the work of mine being auctioned online right now:
How Could She Know? Natalie d'Arbeloff. Linocut. Original Artist's Proof, signed and dated.
Mounted, framed & glazed. Size framed: 19 & 3/4 inches X 20 inches. Image size: 12 x 12 inches.
Below is the work of mine being auctioned online right now:
How Could She Know? Natalie d'Arbeloff. Linocut. Original Artist's Proof, signed and dated.
Mounted, framed & glazed. Size framed: 19 & 3/4 inches X 20 inches. Image size: 12 x 12 inches.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
STEVEN APPLEBY'S PORTRAIT GOES HOME
Coffee, cake and great conversation with Steven Appleby this afternoon
and he took home his portrait. So delighted the real Steven and the
painted-by-me one will be living happily together ever after.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
FURTHER BACK
I met the Hungarian photographer George Cserna in New York City in the
early fifties. I can't remember the circumstances but he asked if he
could take some photos of me in the studio I had way downtown in 4th
Street.
Then in 1956 he turned up again in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where I was a student at the Instituto Allende. Cserna took some more photos there on a day when Reg Dixon (who was teaching ceramics) was posing for the class and I was painting him.
Then in 1956 he turned up again in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where I was a student at the Instituto Allende. Cserna took some more photos there on a day when Reg Dixon (who was teaching ceramics) was posing for the class and I was painting him.
Natalie d'Arbeloff in her studio, NewYork City 1953. Photo by George Cserna. |
Getting serious. Reg Dixon and I got married in 1957. |
The portrait I painted in San Miguel de Allende now hangs in the Vancouver home of Valerie Dixon, Reg's youngest daughter, my very dear friend. |
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Monday, November 25, 2019
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
CORBYN/JOHNSON ELECTIONEERING DEBATE
Watched the Corbyn/Johnson debate on ITV last night and it was obvious (to
me) that Corbyn won hands down. He was dignified, concise, relevant,
whereas Boris was only Boris and nothing else. His bumbling, stumbling,
childish attempts to evade answering questions by turning everything
into attacks on Corbyn were transparently pathetic and his boring
repetition of the mantra GET-BREXIT-DONE was an insult to everybody's
intelligence.
There was a lot of laughter from the audience at times, which cheered me up no end.
There was a lot of laughter from the audience at times, which cheered me up no end.
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
THINK ABOUT IT
Do you ever think about this?
All the complicated processes which keep us alive function WITHOUT OUR HAVING TO THINK ABOUT THEM.
Heart beats in perfect rhythm, lungs breathe in and out, blood flows exactly where it's supposed to flow, nerves, cells, etc. etc. all carry out their duties without a word of instruction from us. Therefore what I want to know is:
All the complicated processes which keep us alive function WITHOUT OUR HAVING TO THINK ABOUT THEM.
Heart beats in perfect rhythm, lungs breathe in and out, blood flows exactly where it's supposed to flow, nerves, cells, etc. etc. all carry out their duties without a word of instruction from us. Therefore what I want to know is:
Given that the
essential functions on which the body's existence depends generally
operate with admirable efficiency without conscious thought, why then
does consciousness behave so unreliably?
All by themselves, fingernails and toenails grow with what seems to me astonishing speed. Why doesn't wisdom grow inside consciousness with similar speed? Why does the body UNCONSCIOUSLY function harmoniously whereas consciousness has to strive, struggle, suffer and sweat to achieve just a small portion of harmony?
All by themselves, fingernails and toenails grow with what seems to me astonishing speed. Why doesn't wisdom grow inside consciousness with similar speed? Why does the body UNCONSCIOUSLY function harmoniously whereas consciousness has to strive, struggle, suffer and sweat to achieve just a small portion of harmony?
Monday, November 11, 2019
THE RIGHT WORDS
"It takes quite a while for there to be created in the brain a
hierarchy of what's most important in one's life and when finally it is
made, and in the auditorium the lights are switched on one by one, the
result is, as with all good theatre, true bordering on false. Our
biographies are, give or take a little, what we choose."
Marius Kociejowski
Trying to psych myself back into the spirit of Double Entendre, my autobio-graphic-novel-in-very-slow-progress, this absolutely relevant quote from the wonderful God's Zoo - Artists, Exiles, Londoners (Carcanet 2014) spurs me on.
Marius Kociejowski
Trying to psych myself back into the spirit of Double Entendre, my autobio-graphic-novel-in-very-slow-progress, this absolutely relevant quote from the wonderful God's Zoo - Artists, Exiles, Londoners (Carcanet 2014) spurs me on.
Saturday, November 09, 2019
Monday, November 04, 2019
Saturday, November 02, 2019
MAKING SPACE
It's
one of those days when I want to clear up, make space. If I were a
farmer I would plow a field or if I were John Bercow I could shout ORDER
OORRDERR!
My studio is too small for all the stuff, all the past accumulated, saved, roughly stored.
In an old portfolio I found this portrait of my sister Annie which I painted in Paris when I was eighteen and she was twenty-two. I like it. I also like this abstract around 1956 in Vermont, during my drawing-with-string period which didn't last very long.
My studio is too small for all the stuff, all the past accumulated, saved, roughly stored.
In an old portfolio I found this portrait of my sister Annie which I painted in Paris when I was eighteen and she was twenty-two. I like it. I also like this abstract around 1956 in Vermont, during my drawing-with-string period which didn't last very long.
ANNIE AT 22. NdA 1947. Oil on hessian (burlap) 38 x 46 cms (15 x 18 inches) |
CONNECTIONS. NdA circa 1956. Oil and string on board. 35 x 50 cms (14 x 20 inches) |
Friday, November 01, 2019
FRANCES MCDOWALL R.I.P.
Extremely
sad news that Frances McDowall died las week. She was the other half
of Nicolas McDowall and of The Old Stile Press, their unique and
marvellous creation, lovingly nurtured by both of them since 1979.
My friendship and collaboration with Frances and Nicolas over many years has been a joy and inspiration and it is impossible to think of The Old Stile Press without Frances' calm, strong, positive presence. My heartfelt condolences to Nicolas and his family. I can't find the words at present.
Watch this video of an interview with the McDowalls by Studio International in 2018.
https://vimeo.com/289765518
My friendship and collaboration with Frances and Nicolas over many years has been a joy and inspiration and it is impossible to think of The Old Stile Press without Frances' calm, strong, positive presence. My heartfelt condolences to Nicolas and his family. I can't find the words at present.
Watch this video of an interview with the McDowalls by Studio International in 2018.
https://vimeo.com/289765518
Frances and Nicolas McDowall |
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
BEWARE AMAZON PRIME
Sidetracking
from Brexit, elections and other probable major catastrophes I notice
that my bank account has been debited with a £7.99 which doesn't tally
with anything I've spent but was taken by Amazon Prime. I check my
Amazon account and, behold, the sneaky bastards have made me a "member"
of Amazon Prime without my knowledge or consent, setting up monthly
payments of £7.99. After following their deliberately tortuous path I
finally manage to cancel this fraudulent "membership" via a
"conversation" with a robotic person or actual robot on the "chat" option.
I think it is simply fraud masquerading as benevolent advertising. It is based on the cynical but accurate prediction that many people will not even notice that they've been conned. Yes, Amazon will refund if you wise up and demand it but have a look at the hoops they make you jump through before that happens. The whole Prime thing was very carefully and deviously designed as a trap and it would be useful to know exactly how many people have unwittingly fallen into it.
Be warned! You are not paranoid. They actually are out to get you, without your knowledge.
I think it is simply fraud masquerading as benevolent advertising. It is based on the cynical but accurate prediction that many people will not even notice that they've been conned. Yes, Amazon will refund if you wise up and demand it but have a look at the hoops they make you jump through before that happens. The whole Prime thing was very carefully and deviously designed as a trap and it would be useful to know exactly how many people have unwittingly fallen into it.
Be warned! You are not paranoid. They actually are out to get you, without your knowledge.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
STEVEN APPLEBY PORTRAIT
The portrait I've been working on, which is now finished, is of the
brilliant cartoonist Steven Appleby. I've always loved his work, his
comic strips for the Guardian and other publications, his books, his
absurd/astute/surreal/absolutely real sense of humour, very much in tune
with how I see things. It was the happiest of coincidences that he was
one of the judges of the Laydeez Do Comics 2019 Award for a graphic
novel-in-progress and that I won one of the awards.
Iit was fantastic to meet Steven at the prize-giving event at the Free Word Centre on 31 March this year and, of course, to know that he liked my work. I asked if I could paint his portrait. He agreed and we arranged times when he could come and sit for me. In between sittings I worked from some photos I took.
Iit was fantastic to meet Steven at the prize-giving event at the Free Word Centre on 31 March this year and, of course, to know that he liked my work. I asked if I could paint his portrait. He agreed and we arranged times when he could come and sit for me. In between sittings I worked from some photos I took.
I think my
portrait captures something more inward than outward in his expression.
Steven is a man who dresses as a woman. He transvests, not occasionally
but all the time. It's who he is. I found this quality fascinating and
enlightening. It made the issue of gender totally irrelevant and at the
same time crucial. I don't feel there is anything odd or artificial
about his appearance, on the contrary, it seems natural and beautiful to
see male and female characteristics in one person. Here is Steven
Appleby, cartoonist par excellence, proud to call him my friend.
Steven Appleby. NdA 2019. Oil on canvas. 50 x 61 cms (20 x 24 inches)
Steven Appleby. NdA 2019. Oil on canvas. 50 x 61 cms (20 x 24 inches)
Monday, October 21, 2019
REAL LIVE FRIENDS
There's nothing like meeting someone in your actual real life when it
comes to friendship. Social media friends are great and I'm truly
greatfull (not a mis-spelling) for those I've got to know through this cybernetic window. But
a window is just a window and social media is not actual society.
Yesterday afternoon I had the real live pleasure of a visit from Pamela Robertson Pearce. We've only met via Facebook before but her multi-dimensional presence in my own 3-D home space was something really special. She even matched the colours in some of my paintings.
Yesterday afternoon I had the real live pleasure of a visit from Pamela Robertson Pearce. We've only met via Facebook before but her multi-dimensional presence in my own 3-D home space was something really special. She even matched the colours in some of my paintings.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART
My absence from this blog should not be construed as absence from this
planet. No no! Still plenty of time left on my dance card.....I hope.
I have simply been busy wih a terrific new portrait (to be revealed next week) and various stupid hassles with (absent) teeth.
I have simply been busy wih a terrific new portrait (to be revealed next week) and various stupid hassles with (absent) teeth.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
BLAISE CENDRARS IN LETCHWORTH
Last Thursdat night at David's Bookshop in Letchworth Garden City went really
well. Wonderful bookshop, appreciative audience, generous help from
everyone. In the first half of the evening John Gohorry read his Ile de
Ré suite of poems, vignettes filled with seaside atmosphere, light and
warmth.
In the second half, Dick Jones, Doug McGowan and I did our Blaise Cendrars thing: reading/video/music, all in harmony and synchronicity. The room was full and the applause sincerely enthusiastic. Later, people looked through a copy of the Old Stile Press livre d'artiste, our TransSiberian book, and understood the difference between a hand-produced limited edition and a mass-produced book.
In the second half, Dick Jones, Doug McGowan and I did our Blaise Cendrars thing: reading/video/music, all in harmony and synchronicity. The room was full and the applause sincerely enthusiastic. Later, people looked through a copy of the Old Stile Press livre d'artiste, our TransSiberian book, and understood the difference between a hand-produced limited edition and a mass-produced book.
DEAR CHRISTINE IS IN SWANSEA
The other event I'm part of but, unfortunately will not be able to
attend in person this time. is the 'Dear Christine' exhibition in
Swansea at the Elysium Gallery opening on 4th October. I was at this
exhibition's first showing in May this year at the Vane Gallery In
Newcastle and posted photos of the private view.
Thanks to the unceasing efforts of Fionn Wilson, artist and creator-curator of this show, it is now on tour and will be in London early next year. Meanwhile, there will be poetry, music, film, talks, as well as Christine Keeler-related art works by twenty artists (including moi) at the Elysium Gallery - if you're in or near Swansea do not miss it.
Thanks to the unceasing efforts of Fionn Wilson, artist and creator-curator of this show, it is now on tour and will be in London early next year. Meanwhile, there will be poetry, music, film, talks, as well as Christine Keeler-related art works by twenty artists (including moi) at the Elysium Gallery - if you're in or near Swansea do not miss it.
Thursday, September 26, 2019
EVENT COMING UP
Two events I'm participating in are coming up very close to each
other. The first takes place on Thursday, 3rd October at David's
Bookshop in Eastcheap, Letchworth Garden City. This occasion was
organised by John Gohorry, poet in residence at the bookshop, who reads
his ÎIe de Ré poems, accompanied by Doug McGowan on guitar. Below is the flyer.
The second part of the evening, with Dick Jones, Doug McGowan and myself, is a repeat of the 'performance' we put on at the London Review Bookshop on 6thJuly 2015 to launch the Old Stile Press publication of Trans-Siberian Prosody and Little Jeanne de France. I've posted about this livre d'artiste before but you can see it all here. A few copies are still available.
The second part of the evening, with Dick Jones, Doug McGowan and myself, is a repeat of the 'performance' we put on at the London Review Bookshop on 6thJuly 2015 to launch the Old Stile Press publication of Trans-Siberian Prosody and Little Jeanne de France. I've posted about this livre d'artiste before but you can see it all here. A few copies are still available.
I've also made a little trailer (see below). My full original video will be
projected behind Dick's live reading and Doug's live guitar. Herewith
links to the music composed and played by Doug for this presentation:
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-bells-motif
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-exotic
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-jeannes-theme
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-theme
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-bells-motif
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-exotic
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-jeannes-theme
https://soundcloud.com/patteran/trans-sib-theme
REASONS TO REJOICE, TEMPORARILY
Yay!! Boris Johnson officially declared unlawfu!!
Yay!! Impeachment of Donald Trump may actually happen!
Yay!! Jeremy Corbyn could actually become Prime Minister!
Yay!! There's a light at the end of the tunnel!
Yay!! There may not even be a tunnel!
Yay!! Impeachment of Donald Trump may actually happen!
Yay!! Jeremy Corbyn could actually become Prime Minister!
Yay!! There's a light at the end of the tunnel!
Yay!! There may not even be a tunnel!
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
EYEWITNESSING
Whether you believe the universe was designed by Richard Dawkins,
Leonardo da Vinci, Walt Disney, an accidental merger of incompatible
ideas or none of the above, ultimately we just want to talk about
ourselves and I must tell you that it's not fair.
Why, at the relatively young age of ninety, should I suddenly be attacked by some of the slings and arrows of so-called "Old Age" when, up to now, due to my exceptionally good genetic CV I was guaranteed immunity? Don't tell me I didn't read the small print because up to yesterday...YESTERDAY.. I could and did read the small print on everything, food, cosmetic labels, advertisements, terms and conditions etc.
Why, at the relatively young age of ninety, should I suddenly be attacked by some of the slings and arrows of so-called "Old Age" when, up to now, due to my exceptionally good genetic CV I was guaranteed immunity? Don't tell me I didn't read the small print because up to yesterday...YESTERDAY.. I could and did read the small print on everything, food, cosmetic labels, advertisements, terms and conditions etc.
Yesterday, in an eye-testing room at a local hospital, a doctor looked
into my eyes and said, enthusiastically: Yes indeed you have cataracts
in both eyes as well as some age-related symptoms.
Patiently, I explained that I am an Artist and that my excellent eyesight has been my life-long pride, joy and necessity. The doctor speaks softly into a microphone attached to his computer and gives it information. He then tells me I'll get a letter in a couple of months with an appointment for cataract surgery in the left eye and then a couple of months later, for the right eye. On the form I take to the desk on my way out he has written "Artist" under "Occupation".
Patiently, I explained that I am an Artist and that my excellent eyesight has been my life-long pride, joy and necessity. The doctor speaks softly into a microphone attached to his computer and gives it information. He then tells me I'll get a letter in a couple of months with an appointment for cataract surgery in the left eye and then a couple of months later, for the right eye. On the form I take to the desk on my way out he has written "Artist" under "Occupation".
Self-Portrait 2018 |
Friday, September 20, 2019
DENTAL DIVERSION
Another
tooth kicked the bucket today, the dentist's bucket. This leaves me
seven wonky ones of my own and one more pretender to be added but not
before next week because, you know, these things take time.
The current landscape of my inner mouth looks like Stonehenge with larger gaps, less symmetry and no ancient myths. I will embarass myself by taking a selfie but use your imagination (if it's not otherwise employed at the moment) to get the full inside picture.
Have just consumed half a tub of coffee ice cream in memory of the choppers I've lost over the years. Good riddance you badly designed bastards.
The current landscape of my inner mouth looks like Stonehenge with larger gaps, less symmetry and no ancient myths. I will embarass myself by taking a selfie but use your imagination (if it's not otherwise employed at the moment) to get the full inside picture.
Have just consumed half a tub of coffee ice cream in memory of the choppers I've lost over the years. Good riddance you badly designed bastards.
Monday, September 16, 2019
STREET PARTY TIME
Street party in my neighbourhood, always a joyous occasion organised by
the people, for the people, with the people, weather cooperating
brilliantly yesterday.
Great home-cooked food, wonderful music by Kentish Town band the Sandersons, magic show for the kiddies, dog show for the doggies, live spiders, snakes and bees for children and adults to learn from, Scottish dancing to prance to, film show and much more, all on the street where I live.
The party has taken place on this particulart street every September for the past twenty years. Yesterday was its anniversary, Long may it continue to live and enliven the community.
Great home-cooked food, wonderful music by Kentish Town band the Sandersons, magic show for the kiddies, dog show for the doggies, live spiders, snakes and bees for children and adults to learn from, Scottish dancing to prance to, film show and much more, all on the street where I live.
The party has taken place on this particulart street every September for the past twenty years. Yesterday was its anniversary, Long may it continue to live and enliven the community.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Sunday, September 08, 2019
PLANT PROTEST?
I have a strong, healthy, tall, very old plant sitting in a pot at
the top of the stairs to my attic studio. She has plenty of light, food
and care and seems happy. But lately she has begun to do something very
odd: she tosses soil around.
I am not joking. Only yesterday I vacuumed around the pot where handfuls of soil had yet again popped up and sprayed the surroundings. The pot is not overly full and the compost is well patted down around the plant's trunk.
Today she has somehow, all by herself, spat out dirt again. What's more, there's a sink hole in the compost. like a hollow space under the topsoil, even though the pot is full. There are no dogs, cats, birds, mice or insects in the house.
P.S.
Since writing the above, I've figured out that what's most likely happening is that the plant's roots have grown too big for the pot, they are squeezed and thus pushing the soil up. That's why it's spilling over the rim of the pot. I've got to re-pot the plant but it's such a heavy chore, I'll have to find someone to help.
I am not joking. Only yesterday I vacuumed around the pot where handfuls of soil had yet again popped up and sprayed the surroundings. The pot is not overly full and the compost is well patted down around the plant's trunk.
Today she has somehow, all by herself, spat out dirt again. What's more, there's a sink hole in the compost. like a hollow space under the topsoil, even though the pot is full. There are no dogs, cats, birds, mice or insects in the house.
P.S.
Since writing the above, I've figured out that what's most likely happening is that the plant's roots have grown too big for the pot, they are squeezed and thus pushing the soil up. That's why it's spilling over the rim of the pot. I've got to re-pot the plant but it's such a heavy chore, I'll have to find someone to help.
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
THE END OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY?
Spent
too much time yesterday watching the mesmerising chaos unfolding in
Parliament and noticing how much better ITV and Channel 4 news
broadcasting is compared to the BBC.
Quite fun in an appalling sort of way to watch Boris Johnson shooting himself in the foot simply by displaying the devious, pretentious, hypocritical, scheming and basically ineffective person he is, totally unfit to be leader of this country or anywhere else apart from Clownland.
Quite fun in an appalling sort of way to watch Boris Johnson shooting himself in the foot simply by displaying the devious, pretentious, hypocritical, scheming and basically ineffective person he is, totally unfit to be leader of this country or anywhere else apart from Clownland.
Tuesday, September 03, 2019
CLOUD AND SILVER LINING?
If there's one good thing about the Boris Johnson farce it's that Jeremy Corbyn may well be elected Prime Minister.
I know that some of you, even some of my best friends, would not be happy about this. All I can say is: wait and see.
Good article here.
I know that some of you, even some of my best friends, would not be happy about this. All I can say is: wait and see.
Good article here.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
NOT THE WORLD NEWS
Started a new portrait. Won't say anymore about it until it's done.
Also clearing space to get down to seriously finishing my graphic novel, Double Entendre.
Also received the walking stick I ordered: it's blue with shiny silver dots - at least it doesn't look like an oldie's stick. Or shtick.
Also clearing space to get down to seriously finishing my graphic novel, Double Entendre.
Also received the walking stick I ordered: it's blue with shiny silver dots - at least it doesn't look like an oldie's stick. Or shtick.
Monday, August 26, 2019
POST-NINE OH
Post nine oh
Where do I stand?
On right hip gone wrong
On right leg in feeble protest?
Neon-blue stick
Is in the post
Your order can no longer
be changed.
Where do I stand?
On right hip gone wrong
On right leg in feeble protest?
Neon-blue stick
Is in the post
Your order can no longer
be changed.
Ah yes, your order!
That is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler
In the mind
To stand and struggle
Or to sit and watch teevee
Until the cows
The blind cows
Come home?
Nothing like a good cliché
To distract you
From the point
My point
This Monday morning
This freefrom carnival morning
Was where do I stand
After the big nine oh?
The answer my friends
The only proper answer
To a rhetorical question is
Beh.......
That is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler
In the mind
To stand and struggle
Or to sit and watch teevee
Until the cows
The blind cows
Come home?
Nothing like a good cliché
To distract you
From the point
My point
This Monday morning
This freefrom carnival morning
Was where do I stand
After the big nine oh?
The answer my friends
The only proper answer
To a rhetorical question is
Beh.......
Thursday, August 15, 2019
MORE BIRTHDAY PARTY
Just to round off the birthday another photo then I'll move on.
If you can access Facebook there's an album of about 37 more taken by Habie Schwartz that night.
This is when we're all singing Je Ne Regrette Rien.
If you can access Facebook there's an album of about 37 more taken by Habie Schwartz that night.
This is when we're all singing Je Ne Regrette Rien.
Saturday, August 10, 2019
BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY
Thank
you so much dear friends far and near for your most welcome birthday
wishes.
My party at a local pub on the seventh of August was excellent. I forbade the most boring song ever invented (Happy Birthday) and instead conducted everyone to sing along with me (in French) the much more appropriate Je Ne Regrette Rien made famous by Edith Piaf.
Whatever age you reach on your next birthday, I suggest that you do likewise, sing JNRR, as a choir, with feeling, and you might find that any left-over regrets vanish like smoke.
I didn't take a single photo but others did and a whole album of terrific ones of the whole party, taken by my friend Habie Schwartz, have been posted of her Facebook page as well as mine. If you're not on FB or can't connect to it, I'll try to post at least some of the pics here later.
JE NE REGRETTE RIEN Lyrics by Michel Vaucaire (translated by moi). Music by Charles Dumont
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing
Not the good
Not the bad
It's all the same to me.
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing
It's paid for
Swept away
Forgotten
Don't give a damn about the past.
With all my souvenirs
I lit a blazing bonfire
All those pains, those pleasures
Don't need them anymore
Swept away my loves
With all their trremolos
Swept them away forever
I'm starting from scratch.
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing.
My life, my joys
From now on
It all starts with you.
My party at a local pub on the seventh of August was excellent. I forbade the most boring song ever invented (Happy Birthday) and instead conducted everyone to sing along with me (in French) the much more appropriate Je Ne Regrette Rien made famous by Edith Piaf.
Whatever age you reach on your next birthday, I suggest that you do likewise, sing JNRR, as a choir, with feeling, and you might find that any left-over regrets vanish like smoke.
I didn't take a single photo but others did and a whole album of terrific ones of the whole party, taken by my friend Habie Schwartz, have been posted of her Facebook page as well as mine. If you're not on FB or can't connect to it, I'll try to post at least some of the pics here later.
JE NE REGRETTE RIEN Lyrics by Michel Vaucaire (translated by moi). Music by Charles Dumont
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing
Not the good
Not the bad
It's all the same to me.
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing
It's paid for
Swept away
Forgotten
Don't give a damn about the past.
With all my souvenirs
I lit a blazing bonfire
All those pains, those pleasures
Don't need them anymore
Swept away my loves
With all their trremolos
Swept them away forever
I'm starting from scratch.
No, absolutely nothing
I regret nothing.
My life, my joys
From now on
It all starts with you.
Wednesday, August 07, 2019
VERY LARGE BIRTH DAY
Big
birth day today. Since I publicly confessed back in January the actual
number of years I've been on this planet, no need to mention THAT number
again, right?
Okay I will mention it again. Here's the full shocking confession, published in the Guardian in January. Ignore the photo, I look better than that in person.
Okay I will mention it again. Here's the full shocking confession, published in the Guardian in January. Ignore the photo, I look better than that in person.
Sunday, August 04, 2019
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
LATEST PORTRAIT FINISHED
Early
this year Valerie commissioned me to paint a portrait of her late
mother Ellen and sent me some photos to work from. Among these was one
of Ellen as a young mother with baby Val. I finished the portrait
recently and today the baby - now a beautiful and brilliant young lawyer
in Vancouver - came over and saw the painting for the first time.
A significant thing is that Valerie and I are sort of related. Not
blood-related, more a circumstantial kind of relationship: her late
father Reg was married to me before his marriage to her Mum Ellen. It
was and is all fine and what's interesting is that it feels as if Val
and I are literally related, we get on so well. I also wish I looked
more like her than like me but that's beside the point.
I'm so happy that this portrait will soon be hanging in her home, next to the portrait of Reg I painted in Mexico long before she was born.
Ellen and baby Valerie. NdA 2019. Oil on canvas 14 x 18 inches. |
Valerie and portrait of herself as baby with her young mother Ellen. Photo taken by Natalie 30th July 2019 |
I'm so happy that this portrait will soon be hanging in her home, next to the portrait of Reg I painted in Mexico long before she was born.
Portrait of Reg Dixon by NdA. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico 1956. Duco on board. |
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