Electro Dark Disco

Electro Dark Disco
24cm x 30cm
Mixed Media
2009

Not one of my most cheerful paintings to say the least! I don't know why but a couple of weeks ago I felt I just had to get this idea out of my system so I broke off from a much larger painting to do this.

The painting contains the first line of a poem by Constantine Cavafy called 'Walls'. I first read this poem about 20 years ago and it is one of those that has stuck in my mind. The first line goes "With no consideration, no pity, no shame, they've built walls around me, thick and high".

There are of course lots of circumstances that this can apply to - prisons in general, the Berlin Wall, Guantanamo Bay etc, etc. In my opinion these often demonstrate the worst of humanity. My other enduring thought about this poem though is about the rules that we often create for ourselves, often unnecessary and unhelpful, that can keep us locked within our own walls.

We all do it to some extent but it often strikes me that the walls we create in our minds prevent us from doing and exploring so many wondrous things. For example, it saddens me when people say that they have no imagination although such a notion is, of course, complete nonsense. For my part, I continue to learn in life and hope to do so until the say I die. My values may remain the same but my opinions always remain subject to change in the light of new information, experience, play and experimentation. I am not exactly "wall free" but would claim to be a very long way down that route. Do you have any thoughts on this?

My next picture - I hope - will be rather less serious!! I do like the colours of this one though and feel that I am fulfilling my objective of using a wider range of colours this year.

Photograph or Painting?

Well, it's a photograph actually - from a collection of about 300 I have taken of walls over the last few months.

Sometimes people say to me that they don't understand the language of modern art as if it's some kind of 'secret squirrel club'. Well, I am not sure what there is a great deal to understand and, sometimes, I think that I must live in a parallel universe! This photograph could easily have been of a painting - so what is reality and what is abstract? Is it really so different from the monoprint below this post?

Cabo de los Huertas Landscape

24cm x 30cm
Acrylic
2008

I suppose this is about the nearest I get to doing landscapes. Cabo de los Huertas is about 6km from where I live and is a very rugged part of the coast. I usually go there about one day a week when it is sunny as I find it is a place where I can completely forget about the madness of the world in which we live and simply contemplate life, the universe and everything. I have spent most of my life living near the sea and I can't imagine not being able to to do so.

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A few months ago I joined the social network group Facebook. There are some really good art groups and I have seen some really excellent work as well as having posted pictures of my own work - mainly photographs.

I was keen to see what the fuss about social networking is and was intrigued when several people sent me a message asking if I would like to be their 'friend'. It is impossible to see the person's profile before accepting but I thought there is little to be lost by doing so.

One of the artists that invited me to be a 'friend' , I discovered, had more than 2,500 'friends' already and I quickly realised I was just an addition to the number. Needless to say I have never heard from her again and she has shown no interest in my posts. Fortunately I have had some more productive experiences with a few other people.

So what have I learned? Well, my definition of what is a 'friend' seems to be rather old fashioned and out of date for some people but I think I will stick with it anyway.

Identity?

I have decided to stop describing myself as an ‘abstract artist’. I have come to the conclusion that the term doesn’t especially mean or illuminate anything and is a fairly meaningless label. One of my pet hates in life is being put in a box as my immediate and automatic reaction is to get out of it if anyone places me in one. I have also concluded therefore that by describing myself as an ‘abstract artist’ that I am also boxing myself in. We live in an abstract world on all sorts of levels so I feel I am simply reflecting the things that I observe and interest me in life if that makes sense.

When I meet someone new and I am asked what I do for a living, I usually say that I am a painter. The assumption then is that I paint people’s houses so then I have to explain that I paint on canvas and my work is of an abstract nature but I kind of resent having to say this. I feel it doesn’t really describe what I do. I don’t really enjoy trying to describe my work as I am not really sure what it is myself. Words just don’t seem to fit somehow. I think this is because creativity is a language in itself and it is pretty hopeless to try and translate it into words that are often ‘loaded’. Take the term ‘post modern’ for example – what does that really mean? Just as bad – ‘contemporary art’! These terms mean nothing to me in all reality.

I have also decided to avoid debates about what is art and what isn’t. I have been involved in some pretty heated debates about this in the past and I am finding the debate increasingly tedious. Who has the right to say what is art and what isn’t? I am willing to accept anything as a work of art if it is presented as such and that is the end of it as far as I am concerned. How it is was produced and what medium is used means nothing to me. It’s just another box I feel inclined to get out of.

Getting this off my chest helps me to feel free to do whatever I want so I needed to say it. Will it make a difference? To me, yes. At this moment I want to pursue anything that appeals to me in any way that appeals to me. Can you relate to this? Do you find labels a help or a hindrance?

The photo attached to this article was taken at Alicante Marina recently. It has been cropped to make it square but not manipulated in any way. What is it? I don’t know and it doesn’t seem to matter – it just is and I like it.