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2010-10-25T01:27:00.000-07:00

Back home and it's sweet. The colours seem brighter and the smells more pungent. I didn't realise how much I missed the sea breathing in and out. And I can have good long conversations again (but the world still doesn't change!). So I will take stock, carry on painting, work in the restaurant a bit and go sailing!

Two new portraits, Samanthas' mum Margaret and my sons' partner Paul

2010-09-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

My Italian Honeymoon is almost over. I leave on the 21st Sep, spend 10 days in Sydney with my daughter and family and back in NZ on the 3rd Oct. I will keep the apartment here and probably come back in March next year but who knows with my record! It's been a wild adventure with many highs and lows. I have felt at home here in Roccasecca but I need the language so will go home and practice hard.
The photos are from a good exhibition I had in Thomas Aquinas original house last weekend.

Francesca and Lydia

2010-08-29T23:48:00.000-07:00

A couple more portraits. No commissions this week but I still paint every day

Franca

2010-08-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

A portrait of friend Franca. I am getting faster and a little better. The need for speed is to keep the cost down, nobody has any money to spend on art here and I don't want an apartment full of paintings!

After one hour

Two hours

Three hours

Three and a half hours + half an hour prep = Four hours total

Guiseppe and Laura

2010-08-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

A couple more portraits. Because I socialise on the street at night (and a painting hermit during the day) most of the commissions I get are from photos taken in the dark which are often blurry and difficult to see detail. Perhaps it is good for me to be not so particular!

Talent

2010-08-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

So do you need talent to be an artist (or anything) or can you make it through sheer hard work? And does it matter? Perhaps tapping in to your creativity is something you need talent for but I think you can learn that also. So why are artists considered special? Different than a good plumber? It's all a hoax (look at that word for a while, unusual) so as long as we don't tell the common people we will continue to be special. Hope no common people are reading this. Do you need talent to be a common person.....

2010-08-09T14:28:00.001-07:00

St. Thomas Aquinas

My latest portrait (well until the one I did today) - Monica from the best gelato shop in town

My house is the last on the street out of Roccasecca right next to the statue Of St. Thomas Aquinas who was born here. He stands fifteen metres high, bare foot with a book in his hand, leaning forward as if about to stride out over the plain and is perhaps the reason the people are so proud of their town. There are many public sculptures both old and contemporary in a town half the size of Whitianga (take note councillors!).
At six I kneel to the altar of my coffee machine (no room for it on my bench) and walk early along unpretentious country lanes. Small farms, around 3 hectares, olives, grapes, fruit and nuts, large vege gardens, tomato, bean, eggplant, lettuce. They grow all their own food and make wine, olive oil, tomato paste etc. Small flocks of floppy eared sheep, goats and a cow or two graze in fields of cornflower blue and queen annes lace.
The well kept houses 2-3 story, some white but mostly soft creams and browns with orange tile roofs without flower gardens all concrete and tile with big pot plants.
I climb high up a stony track in a narrow gorge to the 11th century church Eremo Spirito Santo built into the rock with a hermit cave above it. Well preserved but used rarely except for the sheep (religion Baha’i??) it’s as if time has stopped. The bell up as if to ring down and inside a withered apple an open drawer and faded family photos.
So I swing home to a day at the easel happy with the rhythm of my life.

A Lone Wolf

2010-08-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Being completely alone in a foreign country where I don't speak the language hasn't been easy but I wonder how much can be attributed to the residue of 42 years of relationships. I have become used to a shared experience with partner and children and now the joy and pain are completely mine (and yours now!). Lonliness is a strange experience, you can be lonely in a crowd and unlonely by your self but really in the end it is only a state of mind and I like to change the rules in my head to change the experience. You know how time, which is constant, goes fast and slow depending whether you are enjoying yourself or not. Imagine if you could make it go slow when you are having a good time and fast when you are being tortured. It must be able to be done, it's only a state of mind.
My Italian is improving. I know all the regular patrons of my bar and we have great fun every night. They teach me new words then laugh at my pronunciation. They are a warm and loving people as long as you keep money, religion and the mafia out of the conversation! What's left??

Music for the soul

2010-07-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

Exquisite music and visuals from 23 yr old Iclandic composer Olafur Arnalds by way of Carol Diehl If you don't get fullscreen left click and it will take you to youtube.

Faces

2010-07-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

Some more portraits. I'm starting to understand the human face a little better with all the practice.

Nonna

2010-07-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

Granny (nonna) who lives below me is a real hoot. She must be in her 90s and I hear her slippers on the stairs and a little knock or if my door is open she waltzes in and looks in every room and if there are clothes on the bed she throws up her hands in horror. I haven't got a clue what she is talking about but am learning to read her expression so I get the si or non in the right place. If I get it wrong she slaps me about the face and she keeps tugging my long hair and beard, shaking her head and clucking so I guess she disapproves. Already I have a wardrobe full of her dead husbands coats and shirts, ties and underpants and she brings me homemade cakes. It'll be shoes next because she can't understand my penchant for bare feet.
It all makes up the tapestry of life.

Street art

2010-07-07T05:29:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend exhibiting at the Fest of Caprile the town next door. Painted and played guitar on the street. Lotsa fun!

More characters

2010-06-25T23:24:00.000-07:00

My temporary studio at the castello. Not a bad place to work with a view over the town and no curtains to splash paint on! The easel painting is of Rita with a 5 hour difference. She is a lovely character at my local, hardworking with a brilliant smile but with an underlying longing. Michele is in the background.

Home

2010-06-21T02:48:00.000-07:00

I ask myself why Roccasecca feels like home to me and I guess there are many answers. Sometimes it just takes a friendly face to change your perception of a town and from the very first night I have been blessed with many friendly faces. But there is more to it than that. In Gagnieres I felt claustrophobic with the hills coming right down into the village. I'm used to living by the sea with wide horizons and Roccasec perched high on a mountain looks out over a very wide plain which gives me the impression of an ocean, particularly in the morning when it is covered in mist. But more. There are at least 10 public sculptures, in a town much smaller than Whitianga, with a huge (15 metre) one of Tommaso Aquinas the middle age philosopher who was born here. Is it his legacy that brings artists? My apartment is right next to his figure (fate?), leaning forward as if about to stride out over the plain.
So I really can't answer the question but do I need to? Sometimes something just feels right and you grab it with both hands.
La Locanda, the hotel that bought my sculpture have generously offered me free accomodation until my apartment is ready in 2 or 3 days. It will be good to have an kitchen again!

Poor Traits

2010-06-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

OK I have finished Allessandro, he doesn't look much different but you will have to believe me that he looks better in real life (paint!). Ugo is finished too, a lovely 86 year old and a regular at the card table

Allessandro (yet again)

2010-06-06T23:06:00.000-07:00

Just about finished Allessandro, alright I have done my 8 hours but it looks like he has a wad of cotton wool on his head. I need to settle it down with some shadow. Please!

2010-06-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

I'm back in France but not for long, maybe two weeks. I've fallen in love with the small town and people of Roccasecca where I stayed during the exhibition and will head back there to find a place to live. I sold my sculpture to the Locanda Del Castello a beauitiful old hotel, family run and who have become very good friends.

The title is 'Feb. 1944 We died. For What!'
Over 300 civilians died during the bombing of the Abbey on Monte Cassino ordered by Freyberg the NZ Commander. I have portrayed a mother, father and child rising phoenix like out of the ruined buiding and looking out at the world today and asking the question "Was our sacrifice worth it?" Is there less war? Are peoples' values better? I think not.

You can just make out the sculpture below the hotel with the old church on the hill leading to 2nd century ruins

Allessandro

2010-06-03T04:19:00.000-07:00

Allessandros' tyres have been slashed again. He says it's because he is from Rome but I don't know. He rocks between anger and laughter then suddenly picks up Mr Brigadiers' glass and hurls it at the teenagers across the street. There is a moment when it's alright as the glass bounces once but miracles don't happen twice and everybody lets out a sigh as it smashes and lets loose the young men. Allessandro is down and I try to deflect the kicks then it is over, nothing malicious just bantams crowing and fighting.
He plays chess like a gentleman. Indicates when I am in danger and wants me to take back a move that he considers stupid and then cries out 'I cannot play like this' when I won't. We play fast. Bang, bang, bang and as soon as he feels I have an advantage he knocks his king over with a great flourish. Sure he wins but then he gives me Stautons chess book in english and says I have to read it from cover to cover before he'll play me again.
I feel for him. His heart is in Rome but his ailing parents are in Roccasecca. He must travel sometimes 3 hours each way to work as a lighting tehnician in Rome for 1000euros a month. 'But I love them' he pleads and 'I can't afford to live and I can't afford to die'. He's fond of quotes and not a good listener but what he says has huge meaning and I can sit with him for hours trying to decipher his wonderful mind. We have a common love of Bertrand Russell and both read his 'History of Western Philosophy' at an early age which certainly opened my eyes and, I suspect, his.
So heres to you brother. Long may you hold court at the bar and I will sit and wonder and kiss your feet.

Roccasecca

2010-05-18T01:19:00.000-07:00

Long trip down to Roccasecca (an hour south of Rome) with my sculpture on the trailer and $200 in motorway fees. Erected said sculpture in the foyer of the library building where the NZ exhibition is being held and helped hang the other works inside. Not allowed titles, price or name on works because its not the Italian way, so it means that my work will be incomprehensible. The organisation this end is disastrous no media, no publicity etc. and I feel we have been used and abused. It has cost us all a lot of time and money to get works here and the lack of professionalism is not good enough.
OK I have had my gripe. The town of Roccasecca where I am staying is lovely. It has old 2nd century ruins on the hills overlooking the town and is just a small poorish village where the locals love to meet you and you can get a big beer for $3. I will stay till the end of the exhibition on the 29th then who knows I might be tempted to stay longer.

Towards Italy

2010-05-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

Off towards Italy tomorrow. Still no computer and my phone wont send images so you will have to wait to see the sculpture. Doing an unveiling ( actually a putting on of heads) tonite. It has been a very wet and cold three days in the rush to get them finished. Dont know if they `work` as usual after six weeks of living and breathing them its difficult to see them properly;
My French is improving but still a long way to go before I can hold proper conversations. I tried drinking whisky to help understand but the people I was with drank it too and their conversation got faster and they used more slang! Now I have to try to understand Italian!
Ah its tough! New country code on my phone, dont know what it is yet.
Will keep you posted as I can.

Bloody computers!

2010-04-29T01:19:00.000-07:00

Just when I get connected, my brand new expensive computer is kaput!!Who knows how long it will take to fix, I have been waiting 3 weeks for nails for my nail gun. I said I wouldnt get frustrated didnt I. My sculpture for Italy is going well (even with a hammer!) and now without a computer I`ll have even more time. My phone in France is 0033 (0) 636613334 if you want to contact me. Not that I`m desperate for friends!!

2010-04-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

At last I have internet in my house. It's only taken 3 weeks which is phhh! nothing. I don't get frustrated with the speed (snailpace) that things work here, it makes you stop and think. However having internet makes the world seem much smaller and New Zealand not quite so far away. A few photos below of my whereabouts.

My garden towards my house

the view of the mountains from my workshop

The entrance to my abode

A typical visitor

A typical tableau for aperitif

Caught working in my makeshift workshop

Run rabbit run!

2010-04-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

So I take this half lapin (rabbit, 2 euro) and discard the eyes. Now I don't know if dey have four-eyed rabbits in France, it's a wonder dey catch dem if dey have. Anyway the two eyes are gone, kaput, I mean if you invite yo friends to eat and dey see dem seeing dem dey not be coming back. Well I chops him up a bit an flours him and puts him in a hot pan wif da local olive oil til he is brown all over and smelling good. Bang he is in da pot. Den I find da veges I have in de bottom of de cupboard, onion, carrot, corjet?, potato, garlic, fenuil (fennel) an I chops dem big and hearty and browns dem in de pan til they smell etc. Bang dey are in de pot too. Now yo best cognac yo put in a glass and drink quick(da world might end before yo are finished!, yo worst brandy yo put in de hot pan an flambo (light with a match dear boy, you numbskull!) an scrape up all de goodies from da bottom. Bingo into da pot. Yo cover with water. On no account do yo drink da water, the same without alcohol is very dangerous! Throw three handfuls of de brown lentil, some salt, fat peppercorns, herbs de provence (or whatever), a little chilli and simmer for 14 days. But, But! Yo must eat after 2-3 hours. Now I don't tell yo to taste but yo should know by now. After the good cooking (the shorter version) yo have by yo side, balsamic, soy sauce, red wine vinegar an yo taste an yo add a little an yo taste. Need more chilli? Need more salt? Da lapin must have a balance and his eyes are still watchin yo to make sure yo balance him right.
OK yo can use da chicken if yo want!

2010-04-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

The town plane trees stand imprisoned in concrete, their leperous arms raised up with small baton fingers in a plea for spring to send new clothes and a neighbour also leperous with whiskers and the detrius of life and in need of new clothes spouts old wisdom in great gusts of French while his dog Poupoul looks on in disgust. He's heard it all before. He says non to wine but manages to drink a lot and with each emphasis he pulls his chair closer to the table till he cannot move so he must leave but after he is up and away he thinks of something else and he is back with the dance of the chair and his big secret. He is an Anarchist!! I can't remember if I've met an anarchist before but he fits the bill.
I feel we are going to be good friends.

2010-04-08T02:51:00.000-07:00

In France wireless internet sux!! It appears to be everywhere but connection and security codes etc etc make it difficult so I havenèt been able to keep you up with my adventures.
travelled quickly south in a rented car(to try and warm up), stayed with friends of friends in NW Provence and more f of f near Marseille, bought a Puegeot 406 (so now I am French!) and then travelled back up to an apartment in Gagniere a very small town an hour from Avignon where the locals look at me very strangely, is it the hat or the popcorn machine strapped to my back!! The apt is on the second floor of a large house and has lovely big rooms and opens out to a large garden where I can work. The family live below, Mum, Dad and 4 boys and are great fun with lots going on.
Still need tools and materials before I can start my sculpture but at least I have a place to build it. I am finding the language difficult, I ca make myself understood a little but have no idea what they are saying. I will have to continue to work hard on it.
The bread and cheese are just as I remembered them!

Paris

2010-04-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

From the coddled, easy life he is jet-thrusted into the veins and battle scarred arteries of the city he loves. The train sheek, sheek, sheeks and the chic,chic,chic Parisian women live up to their reputation from toe to coiffure. Ah, the city of springtime love. But not now as she spits him in the face and fumbles his coat with icy fingers while he limps along with arthritic knives in his hip and knee and the Georges Pompideau is closed so no succour from Lucian Freud. The computer lied, the language is not remotely like what it taught him but after a friendly pernod and a new sun on his back he knew there was a poem there somewhere.

Friends

2010-03-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

It's hard saying goodbye to friends when you don't know when you will see them again but I see us all as thousands of little spinning cogs randomly living our lives and connecting by chance or design. Sometimes the encounter is meaningful and the two cogs mesh and slow down and sometimes it is a brief encounter and they barely touch before spinning away. However the length of time between encounters often determines the amount of meshing involved. So the longer the interval the slower the cogs spin when they meet.. In other words the quality of the friendship stays the same even if you don't see each other for a while.

How heavy is a life?

2010-03-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

Autumn is upon us with cool mornings and brilliant skies. Spent yesterday upside down under the boat painting her bottom (I'm usually a breast man) and fitting new zinc anodes on the sail drives in preparation for winter. There is a lot of door closing for my move to France but they sure ain't going to be locked. I've been weighing my tools and rating them in order of importance so I am not over weight on the plane. Not much room for clothes but I'm taking my beloved Maton guitar. Paints are too heavy but ideas travel well. The hat collection has to come. Can I fit a life into two suitcases? I suppose we fit a life into one coffin. Freedom!

The Road to Monte Cassino

2010-03-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

In twelve days I fly out to start a new adventure in France. Two days in Paris then a week travelling down to Marseille exploring the countryside looking for a house and workshop to rent. I only have six weeks to finish a sculpture for the Cassino exhibition which starts on the 15th May, it will be pushing it but I work well under pressure. Originally I thought of constructing a bombed building and have two figures rising out of it (Phoenix?) denoting peace, love and beauty (the exhibition has a theme of peace and remembrance of the war) but lately I have been thinking about those who died and if they could rise from the building and see the world today what would they think of it. Was it worth the sacrifice? Have we used it wisely? Are our values better? Is there less war? I don't think so. It's going to be hard to express but maybe on the two figures faces a look of bewildered horror that their efforts have been in vain along with some of the results of our hollow, celebrity seeking society, a TV with the E Channel running, a barbie doll, an AK47 etc etc.
I am a fan of hope and love and beauty but for them to be acheived we have to look very hard at ourselves and that is one of the job descriptions of an artist.

What the.......

2010-03-08T22:40:00.000-08:00

OK just don't ask!! The title is 'Head in the Clouds but Open to Reason'. It seemed like a good idea at the time (the wee small hours) but then most things do. At least I was able to recycle lots of wood from our old bach and it's kind of nice that it's made another little house/lighthouse/abomination! It was in an exhibition at a local cafe but today I assembled at the Mercury Estate Winery, it will probably scare all their customers away.

Occult

2010-03-04T09:30:00.000-08:00

In the deep, dark backblocks of Flaxmill Bay, past the blackened stump, through the evil smelling swamp where strange creatures stare, across the turgid river where people disappear, there stands a shed. Not just any shed but a place of cults and worship and strange goings on. Men meet there, no women allowed. Men with strange names like Gav the Midget and Jerry Spintoomuch, Cowboyhat Scotty and Baldeagle Merv, Chooky Hewhothinkshestoogood and the Great Lord Alty Canyoupicktheballup who conceived the dastardly idea. And their game? The reason for meeting at the dead of night? TABLETENNIS!! and we do allow Claire cos she brings cake and we worship a cold beer and maybe it's not really the sport we gather for.

Pre face

2010-02-27T09:11:00.000-08:00

Just returned from a lovely 9 days in Sydney with my daughter Shelley and family. Like an old dog I have to leave my mark so attacked a dead eucalyptus tree in their Balinese pool area. Pity there was some cancer (rot) which I had to take out on the left hand side of the mouth but there are flaws in all of us!

Shedding a life

2010-02-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

There is little mileage left
In this old skin
So do I throw it down
With the others
Or burnish it
Every day
Until the new one fits

Art should be like breathing

2010-02-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

What is it about art in museums and galleries that I don't like. Is it the attempt to objectify and canonise it, to separate it from life when it should be part of it. I love coming across art in unexpected places where you can take it or leave it, love it or hate it but it hasn't got all the artworld bullshit behind it. It's a natural progression of what you are doing. Of course it's more difficult with paintings because they need a wall and must be protected so give me sculpture and a wide plain or the side of a mountain or the ocean (I have plans for a fountain generated by wave motion) or a grimy city street.
Or maybe I'm just trying to justify my latest abomination (more later [not more abominations I hope!]) that I'm going to unleash on the poor world.

Viva la France!

2010-02-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

So I'm off to France at the end of March. I have been accepted into an exhibition at Cassino in Italy where many NZers fought and died with the Italians in WW2 and rather than ship my big, bulky sculptures up there I thought I would rent a house in south of France, make them there and deliver them personally. Oh the hardships!!! It will be a tight schedule, I only have 6 weeks to find a house, workshop, tools and materials before delivery. I have been learning French for the last 4 months so it's a good opportunity to put it into practice.

Billie

2010-02-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

Great friend Billie Mallett has arrived from England and is painting up a storm for our annual art escape event.

Possum up a native tree

2010-02-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

What is it about the hierachy of animals that if someone tortures a dog there are calls for higher prison sentences for animal cruelty and yet the state poisons (read slow, agonising death) hundreds of thousands of animals (mostly the Australian possum which is eating our native forests but also birds and fish that get caught up in the cycle) with the blanket use of 1080.
Interestingly enough when the gypsy moth (a threat to our agriculture industry) was found in Auckland they actually sprayed poison on parts of the city with a plane.
Go figure!

Art Escape

2010-02-04T09:54:00.000-08:00

The internet has been down for five days which is annoying but in some ways a bit of a relief. I got so much done!! I am part of the committee that organises an annual open studio weekend which runs for two weekends Feb 26,27,28th and Mar. 5,6,7th. It's focus is on selling art and we have 39 artists taking part this year, all from our local area. The Coromandel has a great history in the arts (comparitively NZ wise) with a lot of alternative people (artists, musicians, craftspeople) moving here out of the cities in the 1960s.
It's hard times selling art but hopefully we can encourage people to shake the moths out of their wallets.

Still Running

2010-01-29T09:31:00.000-08:00

Installing three of my 'running men' on friends' Meg and Jerrys' garage roof

2010-01-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

See, I haven't been sitting on my thumbs. The latest creation 'In Your Arms at Last' going to a gallery in Cambridge.

Published (cringe)

2010-01-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

Ooogh I have been published, even if I did it myself! It's nice to have done it but also a little embarrassing. I have many beautiful art books of important artists and now anyone can do it (not be important silly) so how are we going to sort the peas from the pod? Previously only artists who have made a significant impact on the art world have been printed so when you came to buying a book you only had to choose between who you like or dislike.
I only produced them for the kids for Christmas, honestly!

Kenny

2010-01-17T22:43:00.000-08:00

I suddenly remembered Kenny the other day. He was a big, black bastard. The kind you only saw the eyes of late at night when we usually did business. He lived out in the sticks with wife and kids and we were partners in scallop shucking. We had seven boats and no money so I used to work my arse off all night long opening and packing scallops so Kenny could leave at first light to sell them in the city and bring the money back to pay the fishermen for the next days catch. One day he didn't come home. I was left with seven irate fishermen and six months of hard labour to pay them back. He greeted me on the street like a long lost brother some time later, offering me boxes of crayfish to settle the debt. Of course when I opened them up they were undersize and worthless. Liked him though. It was all a game, sometimes I won but most times he got the better of me and I had my eyes open. Last I heard of him he was on a hunger strike in prison. With the size of him he's probably still on it!

Yippee!!

2010-01-14T23:57:00.000-08:00

I've had a good week. Friends Jerry and Meg are taking 3 of the running men above. I sold the stone sculpture below at the Little gallery of Fine Arts as well as the painted sculpture from the Eggsentric garden. The tall figure has been sold and is going to Murawai on the West coast and my good mate Jimmy wants some sculpture at his house on Waiheke as payment for the dinghy I picked up from him.
It's either a feast or a famine!!

Sail Ahoy

2010-01-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

Just arrived back from a sailing trip to Auckland to pick up mate Jimmys' inflatable. As the photo shows it was a quiet trip up but a 30 knot sou'wester blew us home.

2010-01-07T09:35:00.001-08:00

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
via brainpickings

Long Lunch

2010-01-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

A view of my sculptures 'The Righteous and the Sinner' running out to sea

Tom and Jane Parsons house

Plating up dessert

Yesterday I cooked 56 gourmet (matter of opinion!) meals off a barbecue to raise money for our open studio event in March. It went well if a bit hair raising. The artwork sold well with the highest price going to us. No that wasn't selling, that was buying, I'll have to keep Denise away from auctions in the future! She bought a lovely Michael Smither painting called 'Bellbird Song 2'

Long Lunch Menu

Entrée: Hot Water Beach gourmet paua with bacon and spinach risotto
Fresh local crayfish salad with avocado and chilled gazpacho
Vegetarian: watermelon and feta salad with roasted nuts and chilli jam

Main: Grilled pork with apricots and prunes on roasted summer vegetables and a kiwifruit red onion salad
Barbecue lamb fillet with courget and potato fritters, slow roasted tomatoes, fresh salsa and basil pesto
Vegetarian: pumpkin and silverbeet spanokopita on summer roasted vegetables with grilled asparagus

Dessert: Summer berry cheesecake with avocado icecream and chocolate chards
Frozen parfait with red wine poached prunes and macadamia praline

Contemplate

2009-12-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a year! After finishing at the restaurant I thought I would have time to contemplate life but as usual I have filled it up again. I'm obviously that type of person. My art has improved a little (I hope) but my respectability (shiver) as an artist has grown a lot. Sometimes overnight successes happen but mostly it's just sheer hard work and persistence that brings recognition of the value of what you do (not that that is what I do it for of course!!). I hate the self promotion and just love the doing.
The loss of my good mate Ronny was hard but it made me think long about what I want from life (and it's not respectability!). Maybe it's time to move on.
My kids are busy in their separate lives and the grand children grow inward and outward every time I see them. Life has a habit of rounding off sharp edges and I have to work very hard not become a rotund little ball.
I wish you all (the 3 of you)a very happy festive season.

An inconvenient truth

2009-12-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

I have always thought that even if we are wrong about the effect man has on global warming, what we do to fix it is only going to help the environment. But now I wonder. Big business has got hold of trading in emissions and taxing a country to it's knees is only acceptable if it makes a blind bit of difference.
A few figures from Air Con - The inconvenient truth about global warming by Ian Wishart
CO2 levels now - 385ppm(parts per million) - average temp 14 degrees
Co2 levels around 180 million years ago rocketed up from 1200ppm to 2500ppm and the temp dropped from 22 degrees average to 16 degrees with no cars, planes and coal fired power stations.
Are we being conceited in thinking our 3.4% of carbon emissions as compared to natures 96.6% are tipping the balance or is it just a natural, cyclic change which has happened many times before and we can do nothing about.

2009-12-18T08:59:00.000-08:00

Quote of the day - Jim Jarmusch

From Happy Famous Artists

Poor, poor artist

2009-12-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

With the arrival of the sculptors last week it struck me again how poor most of them are. If any of them have a decent vehicle it's because they have a second job to pay the bills. Is this right? Do we really undervalue our artists so much. I'm sure we respect them just as much as the plumber who earns $40 an hour. It's as if people think they are doing what they love to do and if they want to make a living go and get a proper job like the rest of us.
I think it is making people aware of the value of art in their lives. I was trying to sell a sculpture (not one of mine, I find it much easier to sell someone elses work)) to a woman this week, she loved it and kept looking at it but said she couldn't afford it. I asked her what would happen to her if she bought it. Would she be thrown out on the street, starve, have no Xmas presents for her children, die... no no no no. I told her in six months time she would have forgotten the struggle to find the money and would have a beautiful artwork to raise her spirits and fill her life with joy. She teetered back and forth and then left with an apology. I guarantee she is now regretting that she didn't follow her heart.
Most of the artworks I have purchased still 'talk' to me every time I see them and so enrich my life experience. How do we get that message across to potential buyers??

Shame

2009-12-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

I have been traumatised all week! We entered our first yacht race with the Whitianga Yacht Club last Wednesday and the first buoy was set at the entrance to the harbour with a full tide running out at 8 knots. I was sure I had sailed far enough past it but when I turned the boat sideways to the current it swept us onto the buoy which hooked up one of the rudders and we were left stranded in full view of the town while the rest of the fleet sailed away.
Now you can say what's the problem but it's a small town and I have a reputation to keep up and of course Mike the mailman was there so I had no chance of keeping it a secret.
So we struggled to get free for an hour until a power boat came to our rescue and we sailed round the course with the other boats far in the distance.
Still we should have a good handicap for this weeks race!!

2009 Symposium

2009-12-09T08:47:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit tardy with blog posts (as if anyone noticed!). Below is the finished work and artists from our symposium with thanks to photographer Hazel Shepherd. The winning work by Chris Van Doren is at the top. The auction went well, we sold 15 of the 24 pieces.

Bring it on!

2009-11-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

Wow it's all go here. I had a visit from an old friend above. She was one of my very first artworks and bought from me by my good mate Jimmy for a far too cheap a price (now that I'm famous Jimmy!). She has come home for a few minor alterations and leaves again tomorrow. I hope she enjoyed her stay!
Travelled down to the Maratoto quarry to select the stone for our sculpture symposium which starts on Monday. We have 16 sculptors from around NZ coming to work in the garden for a week culminating in an auction of the new works on Sun 6th Dec. with fun, food and live music. Five of them will be working wood and friend Roger and I have to carve up a 150 year old macrocarpa tree to provide material. Come on, don't be like that, the tree had to go and it's being made into artworks. Roger is going to carve a big fish hook in situ with what's left.
Three personal chef jobs coming up next week and lunches every day for the sculptors and working on my own piece. Bring it on baby!!

Form versus construction

2009-11-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

Still painting away! I'm happy with the results because it seems to concentrate the eye on the form rather than the construction.
I've had good reports about my family group in Whitianga. They are becoming a bit of an icon at the entrance of the town. I'm sure when someone new sees art when they come into town it alters their perception of what Whitianga is like.

Empty

2009-11-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

Why no blogging this past week? Ronnys' death has left me empty, with thoughts of why bother. We have been with Samantha and the boys every day to help them through this terrible time.
I am usually one that moves on fairly quickly but sometimes something hits you at a vunerable time and makes you reflect on the big issues of love, life and death.

R.I.P. Ronny

2009-11-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Lost a best mate to a car crash yesterday, 35 years old with a partner and three little kids.
Ronny applied for the job as our chef seven years ago and within a week we were best friends. He arrived with his partner Samantha in an old van with only the clothes on their backs, cooked for us for three years then started a landscape contracting business, bought a farm, built a house and did a hundred other things. Amazing man with such a zest for life, he gave me so much and I'll miss him terribly.
Every fish will be for you Ronny.

Artists intent

2009-11-11T09:27:00.000-08:00

Interesting concept. Does the artist own the meaning of his/her art work. In the strict sense of the sentence of course not as the interpretation by the veiwer is tremendously varied. He/she (now known as et.al) would own some of the meaning and would own completely what they say the meaning is. I wonder sometimes when I read a critics long winded statement of an artists work whether et.al is secretly amused/disgusted because it has absolutely nothing to do with et.als' intention.

High on a Hill

2009-11-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

Son Sam and I installed my sculpture 'Group Show' in Whitianga yesterday. It's in a marvellous, prominent position beside the main road into town but very handy to be assaulted. I had some trouble with a sculpture I put on the main street of Hamilton being rolled around and broken on a Saturday night. I don't think there was any malicious intent just alcohol and high spirits so we will see what happens. Maybe I can get some good press if it is attacked!!

Language barrier

2009-10-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

I am learning French. Why? Mmmmmm. I guess when I had to learn the big part in the play in three weeks I was amazed my old brain still had the ability to retain knowledge so thought I would throw it another bone to see what it could do. And I love the sound of the language and France and French philosophy. Enough?? I enjoy travelling but don't enjoy not being able to hold a decent conversation.
I must dig out my beret, I wonder if that would help!

Machine art

2009-10-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Great video from Vvoi at New Art

Vortex Too

2009-10-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

Another one finished, it will be nice when I've painted myself out of the corner.

Tap the rostrum

2009-10-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Does the sun orchestrate
The canvas
Every morning

Or is she lucky
She has a cloud
To throw her colours at

2009-10-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Podcast - one of mine

and the painted chair

Paula the gallery curator with ceramicist Ian Webster

Spent the day setting up the sculpture area for the opening of the Little Gallery of Fine Arts in Tairua on Saturday. It's small but a nice area with a good feeling.

Last Night Blues

2009-10-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

Final night. Sellout season. Where to now!!
'12 Angry men' become pussycats over beers and songs after the show.
In the euphoria surrounding the success the drama, director Chris Carter said if she can handle being couped up with twelve men twice a week for three months then the sky's the limit for the next production. As the bleery night continued 'Tommy' was mentioned and they just fell short of 'War of the Worlds'. I think! With the sharp (ouch) morning light the 'Tortoise and the Hare' sounds good.

Group Show

2009-10-14T01:54:00.000-07:00

Finished my family group. They look a bit like penguins with their splayed feet, I will dig them in when they are in their permanent place.

2009-10-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry America (well those that are embarrassed about it) but Obamas' peace prize is the worst decision since Henry Kissinger was awarded it (cause a war + broker a peace does not = the most prestigious peace prize [used to be]). Here is what Hitler thinks of it via Exiles site

It's a matter of degree

2009-10-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

The sun is rising 35 degrees closer to the east since our shortest day. OK I did use a small protractor on the desk so it is not an exact reading.. Spring has been good until the last couple of days when an antarctic blast caused snowy havoc on the roads (not ours, further south) and killed many new born lambs. It seems incongruous that we pull on sheeps wool jumpers to combat the cold. Heading out for a sail and a fish today before the weather closes in again tomorrow. And to get away from painted sculptures!!

Sand art

2009-10-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

This video is of an amazing and beautiful story told through sand animation. Artist Kseniya Simonova was the winner of the 2009 Ukraine You’ve got talent. This one is well worth watching. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo.
From Arts Waikato

Tsunami

2009-10-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

It's October already. The restaurant opened yesterday much to the relief of the locals who haven't had a watering hole for 5 months. It's the first time in 11 years we haven't been involved and my son and his partner have done a great job.
My heart goes out to our friends in Samoa (we were there last year). After the tsunami in Thailand, warning systems have been put in place here in all beachside communities and we had our first trial two mornings ago with sirens wailing and the fire brigade shepherding people to higher ground. We are 500 metres back and about 50 metres higher than the beach so felt safe enough and only a 40 cm wave eventuated but it was a good trial mid morning on a nice day for when/if the real deal comes along.

Painted sculptures

2009-09-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

I've been installing my latest painted sculptures in the garden at Eggsentric It's starting to look like a fair ground, makes me smile though.

Guilty as charged

2009-09-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

I like!!

click here for miranda's website, or see & take a pic of yrself standing on/beside/behind/next to the "eleven heavy things" @ venice biennale until november 22nd this year

From happy famous artists site

Leaving

2009-09-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

Sure I've been out sailing. Couple of times in the last week. The sea is getting that sparkly, summer look and the fish are biting. I love the islands offshore, stacked up like pancakes ready to topple over. The penguins are cute in groups of two or three fishing in the swell and the horizon beckons like a siren on the rocks.

Why is it that I always get this leaving feeling?

Play with words

2009-09-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

We played our third night of four last night of '12 Angry Men' to another full house (OK we can only fit 90 punters in our little theatre). It seems to be received well. Looking forward to the final performance party tonight, it's been a long 3 months to be angry!

Catch

2009-09-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

SOMEONE is trying to throw Venus into the moon this morning!

Committed for life (NO)

2009-09-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

I'm having an interesting life. But if you are looking for a 9-5 man who will wait 35 years for his gold watch I wouldn't look in this direction.
My many professions. Does being paid for what you do make it a profession?

Farmer ........Dairy, pigs, beef, milking goats, poultry
Portable sawmill owner & operator
Fish factory owner
Gardener
Concrete water tank builder
Actor.....Film, television, theatre
Candlemaker
Cobbler
Knifehand
Chef
Logging contractor
Restauranter
Fisherman
Musician
Artist........Sculptor, painter, collage
Art teacher
Cooking teacher

Who knows what the next 10 years will bring.

Curve Ball (ball coming)

2009-09-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

I'm having fun! What are you doing?

Creativity lost

2009-09-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

I have always bemoaned my lack of talent which is made up for by dogged persistence. But now I come to think of it, I can't lose my creativity like so many artists, if I never had it in the first place. Watch this space for "Still sculpting at 90". It's not that far away!

Piano Men

2009-09-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

So now we have Piano M(a)en the ultimate in frustration to paint inside and out! Maybe too much white but I ain't going to paint them again!

Paintbrush blues

2009-09-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

Never in a 1000 years did I think after cutting, sanding, glueing and nailing my sculptures together I would be painting each little piece of wood....twice! Undercoat and topcoat. I haven't got room to store them inside so the wood is weathering which looks good on some but dowdy on others. I hope I am doing the right thing!!

As usual I have my next big project on my mind but I must finish present projects or it will all get out of hand. Oh to have lotsa little assistants.

Changing characters

2009-08-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

My character in the play '12 Angry Men' is a basic working man who champions the underdog and is willing to use his fists to prove it. Simple but fair he allows other people to do his thinking for him then seizes a decision and sticks with it. I have cut my hair and am growing a beard to suit him but noticed one of the other players has a similar beard and he is a gentle sculptor who plays the saxaphone! Oh well, back to the drawing board. Only have 2 weeks before the production starts, who knows whether we will be ready.
Picking up Denise tomorrow after her 7 week sojourn in Australia, I had better clean up the place!

My house, is a very, very fine house

2009-08-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

I have just about finished demolishing our little house to make room for the new one and as the protective walls came down I couldn't help but think of what they had seen. The very private moments of joy and despair, the family holidays by the sea with wet togs and sand on the carpet, the dinner parties roast lamb and pavlova, lamingtons and black tea cos the milk has gone off, fish scales on the bench but she forgave you when she tasted the fish, the steady stream of ants down the wall and up the table leg and the mozzies at nightfall to remind you it ain't never perfect!

Donald Buglass

2009-08-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Friend Donald Buglass has just arrived back from the Czech Republic where he completed the contemporay public sculpture above in Hadrec Kralove expressing his concerns about human conditioning and selective knowledge gathering. The planes, racing cars and ballerinas were on the walls of his and his sisters' bedrooms.

I love the piece and it adds to his growing reputation as an original thinking contemporary artist

Chica

2009-08-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

Chica Bonita has a clean bottom and I have a sore back! Checked her rudders and annodes, propellers and hull for any blemishes. She's sweet an ready for summer adventures

Afghanistan

2009-08-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

So the new government has sent 70 of our elite SAS troops to Afghanistan. I feel sullied and surprised by the lack of protest. The usual rhetoric from our Prime Minister about containing (not defeating) terrorism actually means kissing the arse of America and Australia so they believe we are part of their silly and deluded world that thinks by killing women and children they can stop the spread of hatred.

Of course I abhor the bombing of innocents by the Taleban also but instead of looking to their religion for an answer look at where the hatred has its origins.

To the people of Afghanistan I say sorry, I wanted no part of your invasion.

Lets talk about me!

2009-08-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

Go with the wind Raeleen

2009-08-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Friend and fellow painter Raeleen died yesterday after a long illness which she fought tooth and nail and with great dignity and humour to the end.

You are at peace now but your colours will continue to fizz and bounce. Lost but never forgotten.

Self Portrait

2009-08-07T01:39:00.000-07:00

Started a self portrait today. Well there is no one else around!

2 new collages

2009-08-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

I guess I've finished, but you never know!

Studiotic

2009-08-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

My temporary studio at the moment and I don't mean temporarily messy! It's always like that.
I take heart from the photo (above) of Francis Bacons' studio in Dublin. Great art can come from chaos and I'm working on it (the chaos!)

Tweve Angry Men

2009-07-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

It's interesting watching the characters emerging from rehearsals of a play I am in called 'Twelve Angry Men' which I think was written by Reginald Rose (it's difficult to pinpoint the original playwright because so many different versions have been produced and made into film). It's about a lone dissenting juror in a murder trial who gradually brings all the members to his way of thinking but it's also a play within a play about twelve real life men shut up in a room twice a week with egos and agendas.

Collage

2009-07-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

Back to collaging. I like the way it fragments the image.

Confusion

2009-07-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Confusion reigns for me at the moment. Should I paint/collage/sculpt and can I? Should I earn a living/need to/want to. Am I worthy/despicable/ordinary. If I had one year left to live would I be angry/sad/indifferent/change anything.
In this state I tend to look outside myself for direction when all the time it is my motor that needs overhauling.
Go back to simple things and just do, I say to myself, without thought of approval/dollars/time.
I started writing this blog because I felt a need to express myself through words but I've met so many brilliant blogger friends that lately I feel I am trying to keep up with them and not doing what comes naturally.
Naughty boy. Denise is in Australia with her Da and Sam is at the mountain snowboarding so the house is my studio and I'll be messy and eat biscuits and collage to my hearts' content.
Yes I've made a decision!!

Change of pace

2009-07-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

Of a sudden I notice the light is coming earlier and wonder if I am apace with the seasons. I feel I should be but fear I am not. It takes time to warm the sea and green the land and yet I exhort my silverbeet to stop sulking and provide my dinner.
Nature has spent her wintertime here smoothing the footfalls of man. A pretty shell is left unturned on a deserted beach, the rabbits are bolder and the fish, without an obstacle course of hooks and propellers, are closer to shore.
The change is imperceptible, but once noticed, becomes change itself at any pace

The Time of Year for Tax

2009-07-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

Preparing my tax returns is like eating chilli, I'm so glad when the pain is over and the warm, fuzzy feeling pervades. Until I have to pay the tax and that's much worse! Imagine if there were no taxes and you paid for everything as you used it. Sounds like a fairer system. If you can't afford it, you can't have it. A tax is OK if it is distributed well but now it seems to be swallowed up in a bottomless pit and we still have to pay for health, education etc.
Our Prime Minister John Key (what is it about him that I can't take seriously, he looks like a small boy caught in the headlights) said for the first time yesterday that we are coming out of the recession. The only (among other things) thing is that he rose to the top as a financier and is likely to pursue similar bad ethics to aid our recovery.
We ain't gonna learn so maybe we should give money for driving a small car or being a lifeguard or fireman or living in the country or bringing up a handicapped child or making music or luvin one another.
Channel materialistic urges towards good.
Yeah I'm dreamin'

Flight of the daughter

2009-07-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

We farewell our youngest daughter Sarah this morning. She has given up her GOOD JOB and is flying out to London for two years. Good on her, there is plenty of time for good jobs and mortgages and family. I hope she understands that if she goes belly up we will be here. It will make her braver to follow her dreams.

2009-07-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

Edvard Munch dragged into the modern world by Pollicino

Anton Refregier

2009-07-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

In the 1930s Anton Refregier one of the greatest social realist artists to have worked in America during that time made the following quote:

“In this middle period of the 20th century, we are faced with the dilemma of reconciling the profit motive and the cultural needs of the American people. There is no denying that the capitalist system has provided material abundance unknown in previous history. It has been less successful, however, in implicating the spiritual values which would make that abundance meaningful in terms of human satisfaction.
In consequence, we find ourselves in an anomalous position. The richer we get in possessions, the poorer we become in their enjoyment. The leisure we have earned by mass production is a source of worry and unease. We are not quite sure we know what to do with it. In short, the profit system is not capable of providing the fullest cultural development of the people.”

Pertinent today?

Life, film, life

2009-07-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

What is it about films that they can move me enough to want to cry.I'm not a crying type of person. I remember when I owned my first dairy cow and went out twice a day to see if she had produced her first born. One morning I could see in the distance the little calf trying to struggle to it's feet which filled me with a sense of delight. However coming closer I realised why it was struggling. In her concern for the newborn the cow had accidently trodden on the calfs' leg and broken it which meant the poor little thing, fighting for life, had to be put down. I sat for a long time agonising about the unfairness of life before I found the courage to do what had to be done and my face was wet with tears.But its death was not in vain. It taught me to respect all life. In my job as a farmer I have since killed many animals from a pig for the table to an old, diseased dog wanting release (she had disappeared for three days to die but came back when it didn't happen and sat and looked at me) and have always paused and felt for the animal before the act.Anyway back to films. We saw The Reader last night and Kate Winsletts' performance brought me close to tears but there was an easy antidote, just watch Ralph Fiennes incredibly wooden performance. Does he ever change??

House plans

2009-06-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

The first concept plans for the house have arrived from good friend Linda Vugler and we love em! All earthy and curvy as if it has grown out of the rocks around. We would like it further into the hill so we can walk into the garden from the front right terrace. It will mean we don't have to have a balustrade and have an uninterupted view out to sea. It is a small house, only about 170 sq m with lotsa outside areas and surprises so in winter we have only a small cosy area to keep warm but in summer it opens out with plenty of inside/outside living. The top left area will be a bedroom and a studio/bedroom opening out to a roof deck.

I suppose our excitement will be tempered when we start dealing with consents from the council because it is not conventional but at the moment I can't wait to start (it'll be a few months yet!)

Cooking classes

2009-06-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Thinking about how to explain breadmaking on this site has brought me around to starting cooking classes in our area. I have the first on Tuesday and the next on Saturday and have had a good amount of interest. They run for 3 hours over lunch and will be hands on making ciabatta bread, pizzas and focaccia. The venue is Flaxhaven Lodge a bed and breakfast place next door to us with a well set out kitchen and beautiful grounds.
With our moderate recession, jobs have dried up around here so we have to think creatively to keep the wolf from the door and help pay for the new house I'm going to build!
Never a dull moment!