Spinal Tap

"Quick Jim, the ship's doctor  is giving away 
free parrots with  all minor amputations" 

The Doc at the James Paget Hospital gave me the heads up regarding my recent MRI scan. I appear to have at least one prolapsed disc, arthritis of the lower vertebrae and spinal stenosis (pressure from bits of bone etc pinching the spinal chord and causing neurological problems). I have now been passed on to the spinal surgeon, who I hope to meet on Thursday. With any luck he or she will agree to undertaking a spinal decompression operation which" will sort me out good and proper". "The screens nurse, the screens"!  Failing surgical intervention, its up with the crutches, down to "Pets are Us ",  purchase a parrot and a life of swashbuckling adventure on the rolling Main.

National Stereotype

La sphère d'oignon

As Mr Sarkozy seems to be having a bad time just at the moment,  I thought I would cheer him up with a proposed new sculpture to complement the fine work of Monsieur Eiffel.
The proposed large and highly polished ceramic sphere would be overlaid with an applique 'Cor-Ten' rusting steel onion motif.  A full time elderly and bad tempered French concierge would be employed daily to scrub the resultant orange rust stains from the sphere. The 'scrubbing' would be an integral part of the sculptural installation and represents the futility of man's struggle against the physical environment in particular, and entropy in general.
Should the French Nation decide to purchase this work, I will use the money generated to prepare a sister commission for Blackpool involving a 10x10x10 metre tripe cube.

Enlarged Detail of Sphere

For my French readers:

Comme M. Sarkozy semble avoir un mauvais moment, juste au moment, j'ai pensé que je lui remonter le moral avec une sculpture nouvelle proposition pour compléter l'excellent travail de Monsieur Eiffel.
Le projet de grande sphère et polie en céramique serait recouverte d''Cor-Ten'une applique en acier motif oignon rouille. Un à temps plein des personnes âgées et de mauvaise humeur concierge française serait employée par jourpour nettoyer les résultantes d'orange taches de rouille sur la sphère. Le«lavage» serait une partie intégrante de l'installation sculpturale et représente la futilité de la lutte de l'homme contre l'environnement physique en particulier, et l'entropie en général.
Si la nation française décidez d'acheter ce travail, je vais utiliser l'argent générépour préparer une commission sœur pour Blackpool impliquant un mètre cube10x10x10 tripes.

Child's Play

The Matrix has a strong Dinosaur theme due to
Archie's influence and prolific production rate.

Over Easter; Maisy, Pixie, Tabby, Jasmine, Archie and Ozzie visited the "Cabine" and all had a go with paints and crayons (apologies to Felix and Custy if they were involved - actually the space ship- chess notation C6- might be their work). I thought their drawings and paintings would look good as a matrix or quilt.  I also decided to display their work monumentally in a virtual Tate Modern environment -after all its only child's play.
I am very pleased that so many of our grandchildren enjoy art and making marks. One day perhaps one of them might have a piece of work on display in the real Tate Modern or Archie might discover a new fossil dinosaur. How good would that be!
Yesterday,Toot made scones and butterfly buns so tea is  ready whenever we want it. I might however, make myself a chopped egg sandwich (as a starter) which is always "Mmmm stuffed crust" in my book!

"The Leaning Tower of Power"

Apologies to Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Pugin

The National Collection

"Virtual sculpture" offers many opportunities for the amateur artist. In my last post I explored abstract themes in the landscape. In this offering from the 'Cabine' I have focused upon creating an archetypal political parody set within a historic urban context.

Virtual Sculpture

Hydroplane Canada 20011

Whilst eating my boiled egg this morning, it suddenly struck me that by using SketchUp, Photoshop and my now growing photographic archive creatively, I could not only pursue my original career choice of sculptor by designing in virtual 3D but also place my works within a variety of 2D contexts, locations and landscapes. Having spent the afternoon playing around with this idea, I think the above image demonstrates that with more time and effort virtual sculpture has much to recommend it. 3D forms can be created as real solid objects that could be made in real space and time or as unreal or hybrid forms that cannot exist outside of a virtual world.  The scale at which you can work is limitless. Textures, colours and lighting can be varied to suit context. No materials, locations or landscapes are lost, affected, or compromised by an art form that is almost entirely environmentally green.

Mars

Mars photographed from my backyard

This image shows the clouds more clearly

The difficulties in photographing Mars are three-fold:  first Mars is not very big; second it varies in distance,  is a long way away and currently is not as close as it can be; and third it is often near the horizon although currently  reasonably high in the sky. The fourth and un-mentioned component is that my astro-photography skills and equipment are currently not good enough to achieve the better results I am striving for. Anyway for now and bearing in mind there was high level cloud on the night I took this photo, I am not unhappy with the result.

The polar ice-cap is clearly visible (at 1.00 o clock) and high level white clouds (three o clock and seven o clock)  Isn't it great to look at an alien world?

Loeb Boathouse Central Park

The Loeb Boathouse, Central Park

 Its been a mixed sort of day. Started off quite well although the weather was a little overcast. I spent most of the day finishing a water colour painting of the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park New York. Anita was busy finalising some of the details of our family tree so I enjoyed a little art. Anita cooked a fine evening meal and all seemed well with the world. With the washing up done Anita and I settled down in the living-room to watch a DVD. Suddenly there was an almighty crash! Two of the kitchen cabinets had fallen from the wall. The fixings had pulled out from the wall.  The resulting mess is cataclysmic, Anita has sent me to sit down as my back is not up to the bending and she is now up to her neck in olive oil, salt cristals, broken glass, mops tea-towels and cleaning materials.  When we visit the supermarket, I am the man that always has to buy the extra tin of this that and other.  I can't help but feel responsible for; overloading the cabinets, the crash and the associated mess. I feel my own fall from grace is imminent and rightly deserved. The cabinets are completely ruined although the hardwood doors survived. The kitchen flooring has now another hole and it remains to  be seen as to whether this new one can be mended. Trips to IKEA and B&Q are now urgently required along with a big bunch of flowers for Anita!