Zen and the art thereof

This painting's got nothing to do with the title really; well, not directly. In fact it's four paintings that I have just finished which I have put together his morning and photographed as a whistful reaction to someone I met yesterday.











I met an interesting Zen monk on a seminar in Recanati. He talked about stopping, and reflecting and making a space for life to enter and for creativity to take place. And this in the week when Tony Maestri and Alex King say they want to meet with me for a weekend in Sicily to start to put together the book about 'The Bournemouth Years', i.e. our teaching philosophy which was just exactly based on the few simple words of the gentle Zen monk.... I think, hmmm, serendipity!!!
So, anyway, this Zen monk goes on to tell me that the planet is out of sync and that's why we all feel so rough in the morning because the planet's suffering you see. And what'smore, in the year 2012 (Dec 21st to be precise) the planet will suddenly say enough's enough; shudder and do a complete spin around. Oh great! In the evening before turning in I did a quick check on CNBS news (to check DOW index as I do) and the presenter is telling me not to bother paying bills anymore because the world's coming to an end in 2012. Buy real estate in the sahara he says, everything else will be covered with ice.
Last time it happened, it seems, was 12000 years ago at the time of Noah (of course). Seems there are Chinese reports of that time which mention a catastrophic night where the stars streeked across the sky and were never the same stars again in the night sky, holocausts, volcanic eruptions, all that stuff.
So I guess that's what this painting is about. Just that I didn't know it at the time.
Tell you what though, I didn't sleep to well last night, worrying about what to do about our animals when the day comes.

work in progress

I know I said I'd write about work in progress...but I don't know where to start. In fact I never know where a painting starts or ends either; but here's a bash at the matter










Now this has be-deviled me for a day or two. A perennial problem I have where I see work within work as I paint, mini paintings suggesting themselves. I mean by this that there emerge parts, squares, rectangles, within the work which I really fancy and think 'Cor' that'd make a nice painting in itself. Trouble has always been that whenever I've tried to pluck out a miniature part and make it into something grander...well. it falls flat.
Look at these bits below and you'll see what I mean.











and this












You see, it is be-deviling isn't it.
And beguiling too.
Does all that make sense to you?

Just finished this one

And putting it on a blog allows me to see it with fresh eyes (he thinks).Haven't gotten around to digging out my anecdotes as I promised myself I would. But will commence doing so this weekend. I will, I will. But the image comes up so small. Gotta work this one out.

4 hours later...size problem solved (I used Irfan!)

Those teaching years in Bournemouth

Books are being written about those Bournemouth Art College years. And the School of Photography, (now referred to almost reverently as the 'Zen School of Photography', which makes me laugh) has built up, seemingly by the sheer weight of collective nostalgia, a whole mythology unto itself.
The reality? Always a bit of a laugh it was. And this I'm going to write about too. Mainly to get it clear in my own head as to how it all started, how it developed and how it was eventually destroyed over a period of fifteen years. Not a chronology, but rather a collection of memories.

Moving studio

It gets cold dear.
And now it's clear.
So, dear world, this is what I propose to do with this blog.
For 45 years I have been writing anecdotes and snippets about creativity and art; and teaching too.
So I'm gonna dig them out and publish them here...... along with work in progress, snatches and sketches of things on the move, painting wise.
Does that seem like a good idea?