Finished THE LANDSCAPE WHICH THOUGHT IT WAS AN ARMCHAIR - VISUALISATION OF PRIMAL BIO-DYNAMICS!  I celebrated by accidentally knocking over my painting trolley with cup of tea, water container and sundry paint tubes sprayed all over the studio floor!

Finished two small works which have been left for quite a while (although not as long as some!): POLYSCENIC INVENTION COMPOSED WHILE LISTENING TO THE ONE-A-CLOCK NEWS and  POLYSCENIC INVENTION COMPOSED WHILE LISTENING TO RADIO THREE.  I added symbols, diagrammatical imagery and other details.

A late start today (although I did spend Sunday morning on art related paper work): I started painting in WING: AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS.  More by accident than design, the colours used are very similar to the original version. 

Once all the selected 1976 paintings are repeated Wing assures me that he will commence producing completely new works - although I am not sure at this juncture if he will (secretly) refer to his 1976 notes for painting subject matter. 

I continued working on WING: AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS today - while listening to the cricket commentary on the radio!

I have finished WING: AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS (probably - I think - hopefully!).  I did a lot of redrawing as I was painting.  It has probably (I think etc.) reached a stage where I cannot add any further details.

I spent the morning tweaking already completed paintings - including WING: AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS! - I knew I would!!

In the afternoon I started work on a new series of "Postcard Paintings" under the umbrella title of POSTCARD FROM AN IMAGINARY PLACE.  I am doing the initial drawing with water thinned oil paint.  There will be ten in this series and I have completed the drawing in of two and a bit.

I have to start preparing paintings for a show in the Hearn & Scott Gallery to be hung on Monday.

A bumbling, fiddling about sort of day.  More old paintings tweaked, two and a bit more  "Postcard Paintings" drawn in and sundry works looked at in view of showing them in my next exhibition (hung on Monday)

I also brooded over and made notes for, various artistic projects I will probably never undertake and started but did not complete various writings and letters I will probably never send!

Mainly a gardening day this Sunday.  However, I had to spend two or three hours finishing off works for the exhibition I am hanging tomorrow.

Hung an exhibtion of 28 paintings in the Hearn & Scott Gallery during the morning.

Worked on the drawing stage of more "Postcard Paintings" during the afternoon: another two and a bit.

Added a few finishing touches to my exhibition first thing in the morning.

Then I completed the last two and a bit "Postcard Paintings" (drawing stage) - making ten in all.  This series are spontaneous inventions with no reference to real scenes.

In the latter part of the day I started to jot down options for finishing the two "Bubble Head" portraits.

Started painting in thematic material on PETAL HEAD.  The imagery is improvisational but based on facial features.  I referred to the notes I made yesterday for the first images - the remainder were loosely derived from these.

Finished PETAL HEAD.  I then started work on BUBBLE HEAD: the imagery consists of improvisational arrangements of abbreviated facial features.  The scenes can be viewed as character episodes.

Finished BUBBLE HEAD in a blinding hurry as I had to go out in the late afternoon.  The works I have done of late have been extremely spontaneous in terms of the development of imagery.  This contrasts markedly with the very measured and thorough methods of previous periods.

Completed PORTRAIT BEHIND A STILL LIFE.  Simple Simon (another, to date fairly occasional pseudonym) insisted that this work is by him and that he is going to do a long series of similar works.  We shall see!  It was painted on plastic backed cotton material my wife gave me.  I primed it with a couple of coats of acrylic primer.  I am not sure how permanent it is going to be!

I had some paperwork to do after completing the above but I did manage to make a start painting in the first two "Postcard Paintings".

Completed three of the "Postcard Landscapes".  I am taking a casual approach to the colours used and enjoying the freedom to experiment.

Completed another three "Postcard Landscapes".  That's it!

Completed a further three "Postcard Landscapes" - which was good going as I was out most of the morning.  I have one to do then I had better start on the drawing of ESSAY.

I want to do some landscapes from life in a fairly expressive style.  If summer returns I may take a few trips out into the countryside.

Finished the last "Postcard Landscape.  All ten are called POSTCARD FROM AN IMAGINARY PLACE.

Primed a small piece of canvas for the next "Simple Simon" work which he says will called THE EMERGENCE.

Finally, I started drawing in the developing motifs of ESSAY.

Working all day on the drawing in of imagery for ESSAY.  A simple scenic motif goes through a continuous series of improvisational variations.

Another, more or less, full day on ESSAY - for some reason I completed less images than yesterday.

Spent a large part of the day out with June, my wife.  I did manage to get twenty cheap frames for some of the "Postcard Paintings".  I hope to show the latter at the REAL art event on Saturday 7th August.  I will also take along a small number of the Meditative Landscapes and work on one or two during the day - which means starting several next week!

When I got in I continued working on ESSAY, although not many sections were completed.

Finished the drawing stage of ESSAY and started painting in the background of each small section.  I worked all day but it didn't seem very productive.

I carried on painting in ESSAY.  I had a very late start but I made good progress during the day.

I wasn't able to work yesterday and I was out quite a bit today.  I caught up with paper work before I left the house and worked on the new FPS newsletter when I returned.

Spent most of today working on ESSAY - filling in the background and thematic motifs of each small sequential section.

A very hot oppressive day - my studio felt like an oven.  I continued working on ESSAY.  This work is essentially a return to a style I was predominantly involved with during the late Eighties but it is the way forward for GS.  Wing et al. can explore other territories.

Spent most of the day getting work and papers ready for the REAL event tomorrow.  I did manage to find some time to continue working on ESSAY - but not much.

Participated in the REAL event in Beech Hurst.  Spent the day painting and talking to people.  I started a new work especially for the event.  Entitled THE BOTANICAL GARDEN, I did the initial drawing in charcoal, reinforced the lines with water soluble oil and started painting in.

I had some work to do post the REAL event so I was late starting painting.  When I did eventually begin I carried on with ESSAY - I completed all the painting in but will need to redefine the lines.

Finished ESSAY.  However, this did take practically all day!

I then returned to painting in THE BOTANICAL GARDEN.

Worked all day on THE BOTANICAL GARDEN.  I have completed all the colour blocks and started adding symbols and other elements.  All being well I should finish it tomorrow.

I finished THE BOTANICAL GARDEN, reasonably quickly in the morning as it turned out.

I then turned to working on the latest "Simple Simon" composition called THE RE-EMERGENCE OF THE DISAPPEARING DOLL.  This work is akin to an image in Simon's head (a rather nebulous entity) called "The Emergence".  Things went a bit awry in the afternoon so he left it until the morning.

Recommenced work on THE RE-EMERGENCE OF THE DISAPPEARING DOLL and finished it about midday - there was no repeat of the problems that occured yesterday.  There was then an unexplained hiatus before Simon made a start on another in the "Emergence" series (he is finding it difficult to produce a work which matches the image in his head).  This new work is provisionaly entitled THE EMERGENCE OF CALLIGRAPHIC MAN.  Like the previous painting it is an expressionistic work in acrylics.

Later in the evening he started playing around with a work on fibre board entitled MY FACE IS A DOOR - IN 1974 MY HEAD WAS A ROOM.

This Sunday, our little dog, Sam, died suddenly from a heart attack.  I was spending the day in the garden but I started planning a painting in memory of Sam "Boggle" Shepherd.

My mother died from a heart attack in 1998.  I have been meaning to do a large scale work in memory of my mum for some time so I may start working on this project soon.

Spent the morning in the garden - we have major projects underway so I will try and allocate a few hours each day.

In the afternoon I started painting in the colour blocks of MEDITATIVE PROCESS ART: PARADIGM ONE.

Another late start.  I spent the rest of the day painting in the colour blocks of MEDITATIVE PROCESS ART: PARADIGM TWO.

I have worked out the format for LOVE DEFIANCE - IN MEMORY OF SAM "BOGGLE" SHEPHERD, Now I need to get some panels.  I will probably set to on this work after our holiday in September.

I also returned to working on the series of A3 colour pencil/crayon landscapes which I began earlier in the year.

First thing I tweaked the work I did yesterday on MEDITATIVE PROCESS ART: PARADIGM TWO.

I then returned to Simple Simon's work: THE EMERGENCE OF CALLIGRAPHIC MAN.  I finished this in the morning and then primed another 3 canvases for Simon.

In the afternoon I started adding symbols to MASS TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN THE LANDSCAPE OF MY YOUTH.

Also worked on another colour pencil/crayon landscape.

I did the drawing stage, in charcoal, of three Simple Simon works.  One, entitled EMERGENCE, is the archetypal visualisation of the idea; the second, comprised of vertical strands of imagery, is called GROWTH and the third is entitled THE SHARED MEMORY and is as close as "the Country Boys" get to producing a conventional abstract composition.

Later in the day I started painting in the colour blocks of ROMEO AND JULIET: RESURRECTION ONE.

Continued working on the colour pencil/crayon drawings at the end of the day.

Spent most of the day working on ROMEO AND JULIET: RESURRECTION ONE.

Nothing much else to report: I wrote a few letters. - still haven't sent many gallery applications away:  Apathy as Art!

Today I continued working on ROMEO AND JULIET: RESURRECTION ONE:  Filling in colour blocks and redefining the perimeter lines in some places.

I also carried on with the colour pencil/crayon works.

Returned to MASS TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN THE LANDSCAPE OF MY YOUTH.  I have now finished drawing all the symbols within the strand - they now have to be painted in, hopefully sometime this week.

Started painting in the symbols of MASS TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN THE LANDSCAPE OF MY YOUTH.  This is quite a slow job after which I have to add "event characterisation motifs" to the background images.

I am still crayoning landscapes!

Still working on MASS TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN THE LANDSCAPE OF MY YOUTH - I had to go out in the afternoon so I didn't quite finish it.  Will do so tomorrow.

As predicted I finished MASS TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN THE LANDSCAPE OF MY YOUTH.  The work is fairly typical of the strand type developmental paintings although the colour scheme is rather autumnal and more subdued that my earlier works.

I put a background layer of bright pink on the three Simple Simon paintings.  He promises to start work on them before the Country Boys go on holiday in September.

Completed several more crayon landscapes.  This batch is more experimental in an arty sense than the previous ones.

I then returned to a work started a year or two ago: METAMORPHOSIS OF NARCISSUS.  I have tackled this subject, in multifarious ways, before but this version is on a much reduced scale. Today I started to add very small figurative imagery in a variety of fantastic settings to the colour blocks.  All the images relate to the Narcissus myth in unusual ways.

I wasn't able to paint or work in the garden during the Bank Holiday weekend so I tried to do both today.  I actually did more of the latter but Simple Simon painted in a lot of GROWTH and started on THE SHARED MEMORY.  Both works are painted in acrylic.  He hopes to do more work tomorrow.

Another day shared between garden and studio although today my studio had a greater amount of my time.  Simple Simon worked on THE SHARED MEMORY and, at the end of the day, THE EMERGENCE.

I didn't manage to do any GS work - typical!

Simple Simon continued working on and eventually finished all three of his new works: THE EMERGENCE, GROWTH and THE SHARED MEMORY.  Unlike Wing, who is a distinct artistic personality (and continues to work in the styles I invented prior to Ionism), Simple Simon emulates me but in loose, expressionistic or satirical ways.

One of those frustrating days where you continually sit down in front of the easel and then, equally continually, get interrrupted.  In the end I only did a few minutes painting all day!  I am working again on METAMORPHOSIS OF NARCISSUS.

For the first time in ages I managed to spend an entire day painting and in consequence I finished METAMORPHOSIS OF NARCISSUS.  I drew in with thinned oil paint all the symbols and painted in the larger images.  The colour scheme is odd in the extreme! - but then aesthetic considerations don't count with these works!!

I started to work on the second of three small Meditative Process Art paintings - this one entitled THE UNANSWERED QUESTION ( the title refers to the seminal musical work by Charles Ives).  I drew in, with thinned oil paint, the main thematic image sequence.  I stopped painting in the early afternoon as I wanted to clean out the sheds - a rather mundane task I agree, especially as I am out all day tomorrow and all morning on Thursday! 

I spent the afternoon painting:  I drew in (with oil paint) the main section of thematic imagery in BITTER SUITE.

My wife and I are going on holiday for a week tomorrow  - Our first holiday since 2000! (holidays interfere with painting!) - so I spent today on paperwork (belatedly) and photographing paintings (even more belatedy! - when you consider I have completed nearly 1200 named works, some of which comprise of sets of 50+ drawings, I have actually photographed very few: and photographed well none!!

Returned from holiday.  I only did two or three hours of drawing all week!  Last holiday in Sandford (near Wareham) I completed a sketch book of 25 pencil drawings during the week.  However, I had a very enjoyable time and inputted a lot of information for later use.

I did several hours drawing when I returned home.  I am working on a hardbound sketch book of drawings of seated woman roughly based on my meditative portrait paintings but purely improvisational.

Back to painting: Started painting in the colour blocks of ROMEO AND JULIET: RESURRECTION TWO.  This has a warmer colour scheme than version one.

I also cut out 18 small plastic backed canvases (and primed three) for Simple Simon.  This will make 24 works in the series.  I wont experiment with this material any further.

There is a growing dichotomy in my approach to my serious work and the quick landscapes.  This may be reflected (just for the hell of it!) in the name of the artists.  We wont mention the Country Boy schizophrenia!

I continued working on ROMEO AND JULIET: RESURRECTION TWO.

I also started working out the thematic derivatives for BITTER SUITE and THE UNANSWERED QUESTION.

Not very producive today although I worked most of the day.  I put a first coat of priming on a further 9 of the plastic backed canvases for Simon.  I will put the second coat on tomorrow.

He then drew in with charcoal the beginnings of three works on the previously primed canvases: AFRICAN SHIELD VARIATION (This is based on a early GS work which may no longer be extant), BUILDING AS PORTRAIT and RIBBON WORK ONE - AERODYNAMICS ON AMORPHOUS SHAPE.  He started painting in the first named but as we have run our of earth colour acrylics it has not worked out so will need repainting tomorrow.

Simple Simon worked all day on AFRICAN SHIELD VARIATION.  Painting and repainting all the colour blocks and then adding patterning etc..  He hopes to finish it tomorrow.

I was out a lot today.  I put the second coat of primer on the 9 Simple Simon canvases.  He then put the finishing touches to AFRICAN SHIELD VARIATION.

Sunday and I spent most of the day in the garden.  However, I did prime the remaining six plastic backed canvases for Simple Simon.  I used two coats although three of the canvases had acrylic medium for the first coat.

Worked again on the "Seated Woman" series in the hardback sketch book - all the drawings are solely in graphite pencil.

Something cropped up today so I did not do as much work as planned - in fact Gerald Shepherd did not do anything as Simple Simon worked all the available time on another version of his AFRICAN SHIELD VARIATION.

Again, not an especially productive day:  Simple Simon continued to work on AFRICAN SHIELD VARIATION (2) and finished painting in all the colour blocks.  I continued with my long series of "Seated Women" in pencil.

I started work on the first work of a new series of "Meditative" Landscapes today.  This work is relatively small (10"x12") and titled THE BOTANIC GARDEN - it uses the same source material as the larger painting I produce in August (THE BOTANICAL GARDEN). I drew in all the main elements of the work with charcoal and then redefined the lines with slightly thinned oil paint.

I also returned to BITTER SUITE: painting in the imagery of the main thematic sequence.

Simple Simon worked again on  BUILDING AS PORTRAIT and RIBBON WORK ONE - AERODYNAMICS ON AMORPHOUS SHAPE.  Redefining the charcoal lines of both works and painting in the colour blocks of the latter work.

Simple Simon painted in all the colour blocks of BUILDING AS PORTRAIT.  All three of the current work now just need the thematic imagery added.  Unfortunately I/he am out all day tomorrow so this may need to wait until next week.

I worked again on BITTER SUITE and THE UNANSWERED QUESTION:  painting in the imagery of the main thematic sequence of the latter.

So ends the summer.