Happy New Year!  I pottered around in my studio during the morning before we went out to dinner.  I varnished some more paintings and framed two for the show.  I had found an old sign I had made for a charity event years ago and decided to prepare this to paint on - painting over the words as an experiment.

I am still catching up on paperwork.  One of my New Year resolutions was to be more proactive in terms of creating selling opportunities.  I wonder how many milliseconds it will take to break this!

A typical Sunday with not a lot of art related work done.  I varnished some paintings and did some work (of little importance) on the computer before having to go out.

I finished BITTER SUITE by midday.

After a break pottering on the computer I started working again on THE UNANSWERED QUESTION.  I repainted some of the colour blocks and added spontaneous symbols (loosely based on music score fragments) directly into the wet paint.

Then more pottering on the computer before returning to SEATED WOMAN drawings.

I had to do quite a bit of writing in the morning. 

After which I repainted a small part of SYMPHONIC SONG - CC RIDER.  I orginally completed this work in the Spring of 1989.  It comprises of five overlaid sequences of image holding structures, all at different angles. I have plans to show the work again and I am not happy with the top layer; which, obviously, is the most prominent.

I then meant to work on THE UNANSWERED QUESTION but returned to the computer.  Between 1976 and 1983 (and for a brief period between 1987 and 1989) I wrote down tens of thousands of possible ideas for art projects.  As an experiment I am starting to write down a handful of new ideas on a regular basis.  These ideas, and the previous ones, are distinct from the ideas I actually turn into art works.

Opticians appointment in morning, paper work in the afternoon and a bit of painting sandwiched in between.  This "filling" allowed me to finish the changes to SYMPHONIC SONG - CC RIDER.

I have copied the invitation cards for the next show.  I will be late in sending them out but, to an extent, this was unavoidable.  The middle of January is a difficult time for an art exhibition but I will have to hope for the best.

Late start!  My fault!.  However, when I did finally get going, painting went well.  I have completed adding all the symbols and figurative imagery into the appropriate sections of THE UNANSWERED QUESTION.  They will need painting in, a job for the beginning of next week I suspect as I am out most of tomorrow and all of Saturday.

I revarnished (using acrylic medium/varnish) the modified part of SYMPHONIC SONG - CC RIDER and then varnished (with retouching varnish CLARE ON A CHAIR and CLARE BEFORE A WINDOW.  Then it was more paperwork - A thankless task as I do not appear to be achieving anything.

As a footnote: I think the acrylic varnish I use yellows over a period of time.  This is despite claims to the contrary.  It is even more noticeable in the varnished pencil works of the early Eighties.

Sunday morning; quite a pleasant day.  Did a couple of hours framing in the morning; the rest of the day was spent in the garden or out.

As an addendum to Thursday's entry: It is likely that my wife's cigarettes are the source of the yellowing on the acrylic paintings, although I still think the varnish yellows in thick layers.

Hung an exhibition at Hearn & Scott in the morning.  I only had a short time to devote to art projects when I returned home and most of this was spent on paperwork connected to the forthcoming show.

More framing and fiddling around although I did start work again on the UNANSWERED QUESTION. I am not sure now if I will finish the work this week as planned.

I am making a very tentative start on putting some (of many thousand) drawings on my web site.

Another not very productive day:  I did a little more work on THE UNANSWERED QUESTION, a little more preparatory work for my show, and then I had to go out!

I am scanning photocopies of drawings done in the late Eighties/early Nineties to upload onto my web site.  The quality is not too impressive but  I'm not sure what I did with originals.

I finished THE UNANSWERED QUESTION and also finished all the preparations for the exhibition tomorrow.  I haven't promoted the exhibition as much as I would have liked but the venue is a comparatively long way away (that's my excuse anyway!).  My, fairly limited, mailing list doesn't have many people from Kent - hopefully by the close of the show it will have.

I also tweaked the exhibition I hung on Monday - this illustrates the advantage of having the venue close to home!

I hung my exhibition at the New Art Centre in Chatham, Kent today, with the Private View at 6pm.

This is the first time I have managed to get in my studio after a very busy weekend. 

I started working again, after a long break, on LANDSCAPE IMPROVISATION USING FARMING TECHNIQUES.  This work has sequences of small spontaneous symbols, some evolving and some constantly referring back to the thematic material.  There is a companion work entitled LANDSCAPE IMPROVISATION USING RAIDING TECHNIQUES which has a more haphazard arrangement of structues and symbols.  I would like to finish both works this week if possible.

I finished LANDSCAPE IMPROVISATION USING FARMING TECHNIQUES and made a bit of a start on painting in the symbols of LANDSCAPE IMPROVISATION USING RAIDING TECHNIQUES.  This is a more complex work than the former because the thematic material itself is more elaborate.

Still not working at full whack but even so I managed to finish one work: LANDSCAPE IMPROVISATION USING RAIDING TECHNIQUES.  Both works in this series are very distinct in terms of colour and, to a lesser degree, format.  They are certainly a radical departure in terms of the landscapes I have been doing since the end of 1999.

I have been having laid back evenings to match the days this week.  I am working on a series of very small pencil/colour pencil drawings; the majority of which represent landscapes or urban scenes.

The last of my "lazy" days (bearing in mind that I have completed two paintings and worked on others) - I am stewarding my exhibition on Friday and Saturday.  Next week I am back to the normal routine of working part time some evenings and occasional days and painting the other days.

I started to add details to LANDSCAPE THAT CAN DOUBLE AS AN OPERA SCORE.  I first begun the work in 1999 and I have returned to it once or twice since then.  I added simple shape sequences to some of the linear elements - more to do, plus the main blocks.

The rest of the day was spent fiddling; although I did finish preparing the paintings which I have to deliver to the Art Shed Gallery in New Milton early next week.  My show in Chatham has been extended by a week and I now don't have to collect the works until the Monday after next.

Stewarded my exhibition in Chatham all day.  Not many people came to see the show today.  Which is frustrating as the costs associated with the show are quite high.

I went back to the SEATED WOMAN drawings.  I have now almost finished the series.

At odd times I dashed off notes for a new series of works to be started a bit later in the year.

Stewarded my exhibition again.  Many more people attended today.  I have had a lot of extremely positive feedback and several potential sales.

While stewarding I  finished the series of 50 A5 SEATED WOMAN drawings.

I then started an A6 sketchbook of pencil landscapes; the first from the life, the remainder from my imagination.

In between the above I made notes for LANDSCAPE THAT CAN DOUBLE AS AN OPERA SCORE - this is a much more complex work than most I have done recently.

I spent most of this Sunday morning in the garden but I worked on the FPS newsletter (and sundry other things on the computer) for several hours in the afternoon; before going out.

Back to a more normal routine:  I did the drawing stage (initially charcoal, followed by thinned oil paint) of THREE PORTRAITS ON A HILL.  This work is painted on an old sign I made in the early Nineties and I plan to incoporate some of the old wording.

After I finished the above I did the drawing stage (in thinned oil paint only) of AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS: REARRANGEMENT ONE.  This work uses most of the figurative elements of the work completed early last year but they are arranged in a completely new way - with hints of landscape and place.

I returned to LANDSCAPE THAT CAN DOUBLE AS AN OPERA SCORE: adding symbols, shapes and figurative elements to the strands and blocks.  I did work out some possibilities last week but I haven't referred to these.

I had to deliver work to the Art Shed gallery in New Milton today.  When I got back I had very little time to devote to painting.  However, I did a little more work on LANDSCAPE THAT CAN DOUBLE AS AN OPERA SCORE.  This work is now quite near to completion. 

At intervals during the journey I did further small landscapes in the A6 sketch book.

I was out most of today and did even less painting than yesterday; although, I did finish the FPS Newsletter.

I am out all day tomorrow (and Saturday) but I will try and finish LANDSCAPE THAT CAN DOUBLE AS AN OPERA SCORE on Sunday morning.

Sunday: as planned I spent a large part of the day painting,  I added more sets of symbols to the allocated areas of LANDSCAPE THAT CAN DOUBLE AS AN OPERA SCORE.  I refined others but I did not manage to get the imagery filled in.

I had to collect my exhibition at Chatham today.  This entailed seven hours spent on trains, almost two hours on platforms and almost one hour lugging large bags of pictures around.  I finally returned home at 22.40!  Obviously no time for anything else.

I finally finished LANDSCAPE THAT CAN DOUBLE AS AN OPERA SCORE.  This is a dark painting which means people will have to get very close to it to appreciate it.  Possibly true of most of my work!  I did a series of work in the late Seventies, which I do not think I have kept, where I deliberately put black imagery over a very dark brown background to force the viewer to get extremely close to the work.  However, with this painting, I was simply experimenting with colour and format.

Towards the end of the say I started work again on AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS: REARRANGEMENT ONE.

A day full of family and personal things!  However, I continued working on AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS: REARRANGEMENT ONE.  Adding colour to the drawn areas.

There will be no time to work tomorrow.

I was out first thing and then I was called out suddenly for several hours midday, so in consequence I had a badly disrupted day.  This said, I have more or less finished AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS: REARRANGEMENT ONE.  All there is left to do is rework some of the linear elements and paint in the perimeter banding.  I suspect I may end up doing more than that! 

I do not seem to get any weeks of continuous working at the moment.  This is a rather worrying trend!

I finished AN IMPROBABLE ATLAS: REARRANGEMENT ONE.  This took far longer than anticipated.  This despite it being a lovely day outside and the garden beckoning.  As I have painted on the textured reverse of the hardboard sheet, it initially crossed my mind to put a wash of colour on first - Looking at the completed work, I probably should have done it.

I painted in all the main structures of THREE PORTRAITS ON A HILL and then went out!  I am using the watersoluble oils again - they are extremely easy to manipulate without thinning (and I rarely thin my paint).

I spent the whole day painting (excluding the time spent walking the dog!) and started another "Meditative Field Painting".  This one is a small informal work loosely based on "OUCH!".  It is entitled: WHILE SEARCHING FOR A HAYSTACK I FOUND THE NEEDLE.  I drew in the main framework with water soluble oils and then painted in most of the surface with the same medium.  I may finish the work this week.  I plan to do at least two more similar works in this current series.

I finished WHILE SEARCHING FOR A HAYSTACK I FOUND THE NEEDLE by early afternoon (only to return to it later!).

I then did the initial drawing stage of a second work (with the working title: THE LANDSCAPE THAT LOOKED FOR GOD AND FOUND ITSELF).  I used charcoal to roughly mark out the linear structures and began painting them in with water soluble oils.

I finished the redrawing of THE LANDSCAPE THAT LOOKED FOR GOD AND FOUND ITSELF.  This was after another bout of tweaking WHILE SEARCHING FOR A HAYSTACK I FOUND THE NEEDLE.

In the late afternoon I made a tentative start on the third work in this series (probably) entitled: SHIP IN A LANDSCAPE.  Unlike the preceding two works this will be loosely based on a photograph of a cornish garden.  The initial lines were again made with thin charcoal.

I doubt if I will be able to paint much until Tuesday.  However, I am working on the figurative thematic imagery for the two versions of TEMPTATION OF ST. ANTHONY whenever I have a spare moment.  I started these works several years ago.  Both are in my "Meditative Process Art" style and are in very bright colours (in contrast to much of my recent work).

A Sunday spent mostly in odd jobs but I did find time to finish drawing in all the linear elements of SHIP IN A LANDSCAPE using charcoal.  No time to paint tomorrow so I will have to aim to get these lines redefined in paint on Tuesday.

As planned I painted in all the lines of SHIP IN A LANDSCAPE.

I then started painting in THE LANDSCAPE THAT LOOKED FOR GOD AND FOUND ITSELF.  I am using a predominantly brown palette (primarily because I thought I had not done so before for this style but then remembered I had!).

Finished painting in all the colour areas of THE LANDSCAPE THAT LOOKED FOR GOD AND FOUND ITSELF.  Although there may be a significant amount of detailing to be added.  I have now left the painting for a few days.

Started painting in SHIP IN A LANDSCAPE.  I had planned for there to be a predominantly light grey background and bright multi-coloured foreground.  It has not quite worked out like that and there is a dark grey/earth green background although the foreground areas are as yet unpainted.

I am not sure if I will have time to do any painting tomorrow.

I managed a few hours in my studio in the afternoon and I continued working on SHIP IN A LANDSCAPE.  The top half of the painting which I completed yesterday has all the marks and textural modifications added into the wet paint; the bottom half will have a layer of plain paint over which I will make the marks.

Returned to my studio for the first time for a couple of days.  I continued with SHIP IN A LANDSCAPE:  today, adding the, often intricate, markings to the lower portion of the picture.  This hasn't worked very well and I continually made modifications as I worked on it.

I finished SHIP IN A LANDSCAPE.  I am not sure if I have resolved all the perceived problems but I do not think I can amend it further.

I also completed THE LANDSCAPE THAT LOOKED FOR GOD AND FOUND ITSELF by adding very simple symbols based around a tree/cross motif.

I wasn't in my studio as long as I could have been.  My fault for not organising my time properly - I am out the rest of the week which adds to my irritation.

However, I did finish THREE HEADS ON A HILL: Adding symbols, which merged letters of the alphabet with facial features, and painting over the scenery with the final colours.

I then starting preparing some small pieces of pegboard for Simple Simon do his own versions of GS works.  I have also found some large pieces which allows the option of some large scale works as well if he/I want to pursue this idea.  I did a series of acrylic paintings on pegboard in 1998 but these works were stylistically distinct.

I plan to do a series of much larger canvases this year - although, it has to be said, I planned some last year and they never materialised.

I decided to clean (hard to believe I know) and rearrange my studio, so I spent all morning and half the afternoon doing this.  Then I went out!

I felt I had to finish the studio rearrangements; which took most of the day!  Late afternoon I prepared and primed the small pegboard panels for the Simple Simon paintings.  No time for anything else.

Not a very productive day.  I have started six Simple Simon works (on primed pegboard): drawing in the main outlines with thin/medium charcoal.  The working titles are: PORTRAIT WITH A HOUSE ON IT'S HEAD, RECLINING NUDE, GARDEN GATE IMPROVISATION, STILL LIFE IN A LANDSCAPE, JOINED UP LANDSCAPE and LANDING BIRD. Some of these works are translations of iconic GS works.

I had to collect my paintings from the ArtShed in New Milton today and didn't get back until the middle of the afternoon.  Once home I started again on the Simple Simon pictures but did not have time to do much.  I am out tomorow.

I continued working on the drawing stage of the 6 Simple Simon works, redefining the lines of one piece with acrylic medium.  Like Monday, not an especially productive day.

On Sunday I cleaned and rearranged the library, so even though I had a relatively free day no art work was done.

Today, I returned to working on the current Simple Simon series.  I have now gone over the charcoal lines with acrylic medium on all six works.

Spent the day painting in the colour areas of RECLINING NUDE.  Although the composition of this work is not as complex as some in this style there is a lot of background decoration. 

I finished painting in the colour blocks of RECLINING NUDE by midday.  The thematic imagery will be added later.

After lunch I made a start on PORTRAIT WITH A HOUSE ON IT'S HEAD.  In terms of colour and composition, this is a much simpler work.

Spent a large part of the day working on PORTRAIT WITH A HOUSE ON IT'S HEAD.  I finished painting in all the colour areas but did not add any other imagery or symbols.

I then started painting in IMPROVISATION ON A GATE (another Simple Simon work).

Finished IMPROVISATION ON A GATE.  I played around with the concept of integrating the pegboard holes with the patterning and textures.

At the very end of the day I did a little more tweaking of PORTRAIT WITH A HOUSE ON IT'S HEAD: adding  some symbols/pseudo-symbols.

A Sunday spent mostly out of my studio; although I did find time to tweak IMPROVISATION ON A GATE - plus work on my web site.

Unfortunately I will have little time to paint this coming week because of other commitments.

Today is the only opportunity to get into my studio this week (and then only for the afternoon).  I started painting in STILL LIFE IN A LANDSCAPE.  I am using student quality paints for this series of works.

Throughout the week I am working on the small pencil landscape improvisations in what little spare time I have.

My first chance to get into my studio for a little while, and then I only managed to start work after dinner.  I completed painting in all the colour areas of STILL LIFE IN A LANDSCAPE.  The thematic imagery remains to be added: this will be spontaneous abstractions of still life themes painted in a linear gestural style.

I am out tomorrow.

Back into my studio:  I started painting in LANDING BIRD.  Simple Simon now uses student quality paint (Winton) as an experiment.  I have an extremely ad hoc palette which should force some new colour relationships.

I finished painting in all the colour areas of LANDING BIRD.  I also subdued much of the colour I added yesterday so that the work hangs together better.  This painting still has a peculiar colour scheme but I wont amend it further.

I spent a few minutes finishing off the linear elements of LANDING BIRD, then as it was Good Friday I went out in the garden.  It was a lovely day!

Returned to work after the Easter break.  Started painting in JOINED UP LANDSCAPE: putting in colour squares between the pegboard holes.  The colours are loosely based on a photo of a Cornish garden; ditto the lines.  Simple gestures and textures replace symbols and other imagery.

A late start.  I finished painting in JOINED UP LANDSCAPE but had no time for anything else.

Another late start!  I finished JOINED UP LANDSCAPE - All that needed doing was reinforcing some of the linear marks and tweaking some of the colours blocks.

In the afternoon I started adding spontaneous symbol and shapes - based on bird movements - to LANDING BIRD