Walking and Waiting

I've finally finished my two recent works 'Walking' 116 x 89 cm and 'Waiting' 116 x 89. They took a bit longer to complete than I thought, its always tricky figuring out how much time its actually going to take to finish the pieces. Currently I'm working on new compositions while I wait for my canvases to be delivered. Its a good time for sketching as its very hot in the studio and the acrylic paint dries so quickly.

Exhibition - St. James's Place

4 of my filmscape paintings are now on exhibit at St. James's Place new Monaco office. They will be on display until October with an opening planned for September. The works included are: Fête nocturne. 3ème arr., The twilight of Cathy Whitaker, M. escapes to dream. and William in pursuit. Photos and details of these works are available on my website.

Peyton Photos

Painter Elizabeth Painter will be exhibiting her photographs at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. When I first saw samples of her photos and read the NY times review I immediately searched the internet to find the corresponding images. I am not sure whether the photographs hold up on their own, but they certainly make me appreciate her fresh and lively brush strokes which transform these relatively banal images.

Work in Progress - Part II

The painting on the wall is finished but there is still quite a bit to do on the second one. I hope to complete it by the end of next weekend. These two paintings are individual pieces yet they are meant to compliment each other which is why I am working on them together.

Alvin Hall's World of Money

Peter Doig - White Canoe. Peter is one of the artists in Alvin's collection>

Last year the financial adviser Alvin D. Hall presented a radio series on the world of art. In the series he spoke to artists, gallery owners, collectors, critics and art agents. As a collector himself his insight was very interesting and relevant. On the Royal Academy site he has tips for purchasing art and his new series Alvin Hall's World of Money starts today on BBC Radio 4

Tech Dirt - Net PC's

If your laptop is dragging you down and the thought of being connected anywhere anytime is appealing to you, look no further than the new range of mini laptops or net books emerging this summer and fall. I'm looking for one that could also run photoshop, so I have less options. The top brands out there now are as follows:
MSI Wind PC
ECS G-series G10IL (coming soon)
ASUS Eee PC
Classmate PC
Lenovo Netbook (coming soon)
Most of these will be sold through a mobile phone service provider along with a usb key modem and an internet plan. However the ECS model will already have a 3G module onboard. The sizes range from 7 - 10 inches and you should be paying anywhere from 300 - 500 US dollars for them. However if you have time to wait there are rumours of Sony, HP and Apple all launching netbooks. It will be interesting to see which brand will rule this new market.

Road Trips

View interactive NY Times article
Being Canadian, I can say we are a nation that likes to take road trips, and these roads often lead us down to our neighboring country. I've had my fair share of road trips through the US so I am looking forward to following the New York Times series Going Down the Road where journalists document changes of old travel routes. From the NY Times article, July 15.

Retracing some of the routes of the American Guide Series, with the old books as companions, reveals how much the nation has been reshaped, from the decline of bustling manufacturing towns in New England to the rise of California into a global center. The guides were conceived as part of a jobs program, born of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. But they became something more: literary windows into an era and its aspirations.

Whedon fans - Coming Soon!

If you are a fan of Buffy and Joss Whedon, beginning this Tuesday, for a limited time only a three part internet musical will be shown online. Click the image above to go to the site.

Long Weekend - Bastille Day

My two works in progress.

Its a long weekend in France as Monday is Bastille Day. A long weekend means I have one extra day to paint without thinking too much about my design work so I'm hoping to make big progress on my two paintings. As I'll be spending most of my time in the studio this weekend, here is a photo of my space that I have also posted on the site www.artistsarea.co.uk Its so interesting to see everyone's work area.

Bobblehead Tunes for the Summer

Yesterday on the bus I was doing a great bobblehead impression while listening to my official Song of Summer: My Drive Thru by Julian Casablancas (lead singer of the Strokes), Santogold, Pharrell Williams. I defy you to not start moving around the second this track starts



Its available for free download on the Converse (yup the trainer) site.
http://www.converse.com/connectivity


My other bobblehead track of the summer is Kalise by el Guincho. He's from Barcelona and this is one happy happy tune...so break out the Sangria and play it loud!



You can download this and more free tracks from the el guincho myspace page.

Men in Suits

Detail from my painting 'Nothing happens, twice'. To see the entire diptych click here.


While working on my new paintings, I have noticed that my subject matter seems to be taking on a bit of a theme...men in suits. I've been thinking about what they represent to me, and I think its a cross between 'noir-ish' anonymity, urban professionals and security. I love going to the financial districts of cities like London and seeing all the men in suits, it is impressive. Having worked in creative industries, suits were seen as ‘conformist’ and therefore a big ‘no no'. Then the 90's were all about dot com kids and corporate casual. I think now I may have a touch of nostalgia for the days when I was little and I used to see my Dad leave for work every morning in his suit and tie.

Robert Longo's 'Couple Dancing'

In the late 80’s one of my favourite artists was Robert Longo as I was enamoured with his frozen black and white drawings of people. I hadn’t actually seen one at a gallery until I went to the New York New York exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The exhibition showcased New York artists over the years and Robert Longo was one of the artists. The works were still extremely captivating and have really stood the test of time.

To read more about the artists in the New York, New York exhibition click here.

Radio Radio Radio

Like many artists I listen to the radio or music while I work, and while sometimes I'll put on a 3 hour music mix my real lifeline is the radio…BBC radio in particular. My favourite 6 Music BBC 6 Music host Steve Lamacq is on vacation this week. Great for Steve but less great for me..I'm hooked on his show! I was even on his daily Good day, Bad day feature which you can listen to here:



It took me forever to decide on my good day track, and finally when I did submit my tracks and they emailed me to say I would be on the show I was so excited! Unfortunately the day before I was supposed to go on the show, they said they didn't have my good day track to play!! I initially chose The Flirts - Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime) as it reminded me of a perfect day with my brother, sister and sister in law in Los Angeles when my brother and I were dancing around in a clothing shop to this tune after returning from Malibu Beach. You can listen to this deeply 80's tune here:



My alternative good day track (which they played, as I was having a good day) was Release Yo' Delf by Method Man...which is an infinitely cooler track than the Flirts. However the version they played was not the best version in my opinion. Check out the version from Rebirth of Cool 5, its way heavier!

Sports Sunday

I've held off for a while on writing regularly in this blog, but I think now is as good a time as any to start. I’m working on some paintings, and usually Sunday is a day when I don’t answer phones or email and I just lock myself in my studio and get down to work. Unfortunately I was completely side tracked by an incredible day in sports. The British Grand Prix…hurray Lewis!! and the Wimbledon Men’s final. Now I’ve never been a huge tennis fan, but I was jumping around, biting my nails and thrashing pillows around on the couch watching Nadal and Federer fight to the death in almost 5 hours of the most dramatic and exciting tennis I’ve ever watched. although I like and respect Federer, I was going for Nadal so I was overjoyed at the outcome. If anyone missed this incredible match, poor you!! However you can catch up with photos and video on the Wimbledon site.
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html