HARD LABOUR

Not unlike Mike Leigh’s early work, where the proverbial toils of ordinary life are played out impassively, but, painting in this current heat wave, more akin to the pointless, procedural, physical torments dished out to convicts of old!

So that’s me broken? Not quite, but almost! With ‘number one canvas’ close to completion I’m not kidding, in temperatures reaching the mid to late thirties and a back bent double over two large canvases for most of the last four days, we can add to the medium of Acrylic on Canvas - A River of Sweat!

A River of Sweat and An Ocean of Words…

... It’s odd and just a bit different for me to lay down under-painting to such a finished degree in the form of a catalogue of complete phrases rather than just merely laying down the usual ground work consisting of line, texture, colour etc – This too, with the clear intention of obscuring, even covering completely, most of it as the work progresses. What's more, the canvases aren’t looking too bad in their own right, and there’s been some temptation to leave them alone as they stand and to move on - Certainly worth putting aside for a week or two anyway…

Looking ok then, and I’ve got an understanding girl-friend along with the fact that Niall Quinn has finally made a decision on who will ‘finally’ manage my beloved football club to thank for that and keeping me focussed and away respectively from the club’s message boards day and night! And, baring the one very early morning wake-up call from the madman downstairs two nights ago and luckily you can add to this good work practice a dramatic drop in temperature last night. It feels positively fresh today at 32 C..*!~^?, so, after a good sleep for a change, you find me as good as new this morning, feeling a need for a short break to do a little catching up with the likes of emailing, my scribblings here and perhaps just a little look on the club’s message boards to catch up ;-) Back to work for two or three week’s solid graft after this then, and the final push to get these two ‘buggers’ done!

For now then - do zobaczenia.