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14 July

TV - "The ugly face of beauty"

I watched a program last night about the pitfalls of cosmetic surgery and felt completely dismayed. There are hundreds of magazines that condone having surgery for all the wrong reasons. It is a great thing when done properly. It can enhance the quality of life, but there are things that are not being questioned at all now, such as the spiritual value of our lives. We have begun to degenerate into a society that thrives on drugs, porn and creating valueless life experiences. How on earth does having enormous plastic breasts make you a better person? Why does someone really feel the need to strip off and show them to people. They need validation as having worth as a human being, but can't see that they have it without the silly surgery, because no-one is in their corner, loving and supporting them in the first place.

I was upset that we have no proper regulation of cosmetic surgery, and equally upset about how we are conditioning people into believing that they are ugly. I was not surprised by Rooney's relation wishing to have the biggest breasts in the UK. If that is her only aspiration, I wonder what on earth is in her head, and feel sorry that she she is willing to limit herself to such a small potential as a human being. Where is the spiritual value in that? There was one girl on the program that was quite beautiful, and if she had embraced her natural beauty, she would have realised that she did not need a nose job. What she really needed was confidence and someone pointing out what she really looked like.

As an artist, I love to show people what they look like. I can see the beauty in a face that has lines on it, but often, a person cannot. I can see where people sparkle, but often, they cannot. I love to tell them what is lovely, but sometimes, they won't believe me. I wonder what people really see? I have no idea what they see when they look in a mirror. I feel frustrated sometimes that someone's perspective is flawed because they have been taught to think that they are.

Originally, the idea of beauty included someone's personality. These days, even youngsters are seduced by the plastic imagery that is being forced by the media onto our society. Social conditioning is a sick process, and it happens all over the world. There were a small group of teenagers who thought that fake breasts looked better than the real thing, and the girls were willing to undergo the knife at 16 - wanting lipo and breast implants. Why not diet and exercise instead of getting your body messed up? Why do we continue to validate plastic versions of people having great worth? Why are we not addressing the emotional difficulties that are being experienced by so many people, and why on earth are we continuing to promote crap? Why can't people love each other for who they are?

There are clearly, huge problems with the way people percieve things these days. I will always stand by education as the key, and believe that our government has made a complete hash of things! They are responsible for educational change, as much as parents are responsible for the welfare of their children, and the rest of us are responsible for our selves.

We can all help each other, but change takes time to accept and sometimes, people really don't want to see the truth.

Gosh, idealism!

02:30 GMT | Read comments(0)

08 June

Plagiarism

Crikey, it's hard for me to even spell the word without using a dictionary!

I was just researching formatting for dictionaries and encyclopaedias and I came across a couple of articles about JK Rowling being sued for plagiarism! I know... how did I google that? I was quite surprised really. Maybe I am dim, but I hardly expected anyone to do that to her - you know with such a popular series etc. I can see why they did it though (muh... muh.. money).

Because of the fright that I got when I read about this, I have decided to mention a few emails that I got from a guy who I ended up sending my ideas to about Eddie MacKeggie in my new book. I would be upset if he took my ideas, and now I can see how people could do something so horrid. So... XP, be warned. I have already sent my manuscript to agents. My friends also have all of my ideas and know when I started writing, and if you pinch any of it, I will find out and sue you.

I could not believe that this guy tried so hard to get a look at my first three chapters, telling me that he could provide literary assistance. He was unusually insistent about providing me with literary assistance - for free, just so that he could help. He actually seemed to be trying to bully me towards the end of our email conversation. Of course I have saved copies of the emails and all of my replies just in case. There are predators even on the most trusted websites folks.

I think that it is truly horrid that we live in such a place that we cannot even share our thoughts with people because of the fear that they will benefit from our original ideas more than we will, or that they will stoop so low as to take our ideas in the first place. It does feel bad. Why does it seem so hard to be honest then? I don't have that much of a problem, but it seems that there are many who do.

Happy writing folks.

07:30 GMT | Read comments(0)

03 June

Illustrations

I have just been browsing some sites to look at different styles of illustration and discovered that someone has actually used one of the paintings by Marvin Mattleson and photoshopped it!

I am gob-smacked!

Marvin Mattleson is one of my favourite artists. He produces some really interesting work, so much so that someone else has nicked it!

Right... back to trying to get my own illustrations - hand painted and nothing to do with photoshop.

03:26 GMT | Read comments(0)

Submission copy between versions of word

I have just had the word documents up for checking and noticed that if you copy from the new version of word and save the document as a dot.doc, you lose your footnote and page numbers. Imagine my horror after I had already sent the first three chapters to a literary agent. I cannot believe that this happened. I did not think that it could.

So - for those of you who have to transfer your work to an older version of MS Word, be aware that you need to put the page numbers and footnotes back on, or you might end up as embarrased as I feel right now.

01:20 GMT | Read comments(0)

26 May

Does age really matter - well it all depends...

Recently I added this comment to the Writers and Artists website blog, and upset another writer who did not really seem to understand that age and experience, coupled with emotional intellect dictate how we write. So many people misconstrue how things seem to work.

"Some people have academic intelligence but they sometimes lack emotional depth. Some people don’t have very good academic skill, but have incredible emotional depth. It is also true to say that some people never actually develop emotional depth or academic skill throughout their lives.

I think that you need both of these personal attributes to write well. The combination of these qualities define a person’s perception and expression, which are needed to produce good literature."

For example, if a person has academic intelligence, but they have no emotional depth, is it possible to write a highly emotive piece? Do you think that someone like this could really be convincing? Could they get their point across or would they write a piece that is flat and uninspiring?

If a person has incredible emotional depth but no academic skill, would they be able to put across their meaning? Could they find a way to be convincing if they used the wrong combination of words for lack of academic education? I would imagine that it is very difficult. The English language is hard to learn. It is a very rich tool to use, and if you are not taught the language properly, then you cannot use it effectively. That would apply to any language really. It is sad, but this happens all over the UK and in other English speaking nations. Blame the government - they govern the education systems, but don't blame me for something that is not my fault.

It is true to say that there are many people on our planet that develop neither throughout their lives. This is a statement and not a judgement. Look at the world with a pair of clear eyes and you will see that this is so. I get really sick of people who live with their heads in some sort of fugg, or should it be fug! Geez...

The subject that was being blogged about concerned a 16 year old who has just written a book and is published. Well, I say fantastic, and good luck to her. I also believe that when she grows up, she will be able to write about other things, but at the moment, could a 16 year old write about life experience when she only has 16 years worth? Not really, but she can write well, about the things that she understands, and that is the point. Try it as a literary exercise. Try writing about something that you know nothing about and see how far you get and how good it is when compared to someone who actually knows. Fun!

03:18 GMT | Read comments(0)

07 May

Hanging in the UK

Today we have all woken up to what they call a hung parliament. I think we were pretty much hung out to dry by the last lot of elected morons, and I am sure that we will all face the same problems over and over again. It is not that I have a dislike for politicians... most of them just seem to be quite horrid. They lie about most things, they keep working class people in difficult situations, they know nothing about living in the real Un-United Kingdom because they tend to stay in their make-believe world of 'just ok mate'. I am really sick and tired of the difficulty that politics cause to people's lives.

There was a television program made this year that highlighted some politicians that had to live in ordinary circumstances. It was called 'The Tower Block of Commons'. That inconsiderate snob from hull really drove me nuts. He thought that ordinary people were, and should stay very much beneath his obvious wonderful state of perfection. He was a wine swilling fat git actually with no compassion, in my humble opinion, and of course I am entitled to that, if nothing else (state benefit joke there). He was the labour guy who was almost participating, but who just let everyone see what a fool he is. He insulted everyone and does not deserve the job of being a politician, earning his sixty grand and then claiming his additional expenses. Why don't they do what the Swedish people do. They have a building filled with single person flats, and the politicians live in them, and they don't claim expenses. Makes sense to me. The conservative woman (note - not lady) was also conceited. She was asked to survive on benefits, but she stuffed £50 in her bra and used that as well. It is hard chummy. I cannot afford anything now, and have had to spend my life savings to survive. I wonder what they would do if they lost all that they had and had to try to again? Would they cry too? Wake up politicians and smell reality. It is the policies and purported government that have created our mismatched society, our poverty and our need. Our difficulties arise out of a lack of knowledge, and a lack of knowledge is born by bad, poor or no education. It really is that simple.

I suppose that it is too much to ask for the world to drop all of it's anger, restrictive belief systems and greed and start coming together to solve the world's poverty, both in education and in financial circumstances. I often wonder when politicians will ever grow up. Perhaps they just suffer from the Peter Pan syndrome, and of course there is a cure, but it will cost us 6 billion to implement this small change, or is it that the 6 billion is just small change when it comes to solving our problems? I ended up turning off most of the political debates because the debatees sounded like irritated children, bickering about who has the best bike in the playground. We are human beings who are continually being battered and abused by some idiots in parliament. They don't give a hoot if you can't pay for heating in the winter. They make disabled people jump through hoops, pun intended, to receive the care that they need, they keep the poor devastatingly poor in all directions and actually, we need to sack them all and start again. They think of us as pathetic, no-minded folk who cannot live properly, but in fact, it is they who are pathetic examples of the human race - and yes! it is a race and we are all running towards the horizon with our arses on fire!

I never thought that I would be quite as angry as I obviously feel about the politics of the world, let alone the UK, but when they put everyone who cannot afford this or that in difficulty after we have given them caretakership of a whole country - well, it really ticks me off.

It is about time that they put down their rattles and started behaving like adults... but somehow, I doubt that it is possible. I had better shut up now because if I think about this much more I am likely to swear!

04:26 GMT | Read comments(0)

14 May

Being a busy author...

Like many other people on the planet, I too have managed to write my first novel. I won't include the other book that I wrote when I was ten, or the poetry that probably aggravated my mother, but I have finally done it and I am giddy and excited and can hardly wait for everything to kick off!

If you are like me, then you quickly realise that it is not enough to simply write your book. You have to research the market, make your work viable for a publisher. You have to edit, edit and re-edit your work until it gleams like a new car, fresh from the showroom and it smells of success. You have to burn the candle at both ends whilst you write five versions of your synopsis, a book blurb and a customisable letter to each person that you have the courage to post off your work to. You have to face the possibility of hundreds of rejection letters from either agents, or publishing companies, and if you can't do that, then you don't really want to publish your work do you?

Just think shark. If you think like a shark that is looking for the next meal you get to win. Sharks are at the top of the food chain. So is writing. If there are no writers, there are no agents, there are no publishers. There seem to be lots of readers though... so all will be well.

Have you noticed that sharks never stop swimming? If a shark stops swimming, it can't breath properly, and it is the same for any budding writer - like all of us. If we stop, we lose momentum, and we can't afford to do that. Like attracks like. Have you noticed that if you are really busy, everyone wants to talk to you, but if you have nothing to do, then nobody telephones?

All of us should not be deterred. We should all get appliances from the dentist to stop us from hurting our teeth when we grind them. It is just the result of being determined, and it must be a disease of the successful person.

Get busy! Be very busy. Find no-time to talk for more than three sentences at a time - the third one being yelled at your friend as you dash to the car because you have something that you must do, and hey ho! There is the agent, and the publisher, and the successful book that you have been incredibly busy producing, refining and making perfect for the rest of us to enjoy!

07:10 GMT | Read comments(0)

21 May

Talking about Snobbery in literature

Quote

Snobbery in literature

I have been writing for a while - precisely 48 years. I managed my name and simple words and sentences at age three, with my dear old mum helping me to read 'John and Jane see a dog', and practice scrawling my name and other small words. I will always remember her paintings, drawings, stories and the glee that she took in producing all of it. What she did not have was snobbery in her appreciation of literature or any other art form, and I have had a right old time of things lately, listening and reading piles of unconvincing garbage that has been written as genuine 'educated' opinion. Really?

I actually worry that if a person's opinion is so negative, misinformed or just plain rude, they need some serious education. We don't all have to write like Tolstoy or Shakespeare, and I would hope that the majority of authors/writers that are in the world today are not so ignorant. I am beginning to doubt my own ability to rationalise my thoughts and ideals after becoming saturated by the negative world of literature. I am sick of people twittering on about how wonderful they are and insinuating that I am just another hopeful, pointless, worthless piece of nothing. I thought that I was reasonably substantial.

It is true that there are some really badly written pieces of work that hopefully, will never become published, and there are some that shine out like bright little beacons from the slush piles. Duh... Mr MD I suspect that many writers already know this. There are even badly written novels that do become published, but hey ho, that's life. I suspect that writers generally know that too. If you are really upset, you will have to toughen up a bit and start to understand that not all books are literary masterpieces and some of those that are a bit below CSE grade F, might actually be very profitable. If a story is thought to be particularly brilliant and the author is not particularly good at writing, there are plenty of people who will help - ghost writing, editing services and so on. There are many industries that live along the banks of the writing river.

I can make a comparison with the film industry at this point. I still can't believe that the ridiculously overbudget 'Avatar' nicked the story from the cartoon Ferngully, and then had hardly any additional, original ideas. Hmmm...the floating mountains were a fun idea. It did make a huge amount of money, despite the sparse originality; it being a mish-mash of gaming, NA mythology and belief systems and really overt idealism. The dialog was not the best in the world, so good job most of it was a cartoon - sorry, very good graphic thing. No really - amazing, fantastic graphics. I loved the flying dragons, disliked the ignorance etc. The most embarrasing bit of unoriginality for me was the naming of the mineral that they were trying to mine - 'unobtanium' (har! me rolling on the floor laughing my bum off) Ahem... hilarious! I don't even know why this film keeps popping into my head as cringeworthy. I keep trying to forget, but I can't. I think it must be because of the amazing graphics. Well done art folk. Try much harder creative writing team. Does it matter if it is profitable? A big, oh yes! Profitable equals popular en masse, which in today's financial climate is incredibly important. Everyone wave a flag for realism.

Earnestly folks, it matters what you write, how you write and what you have to say. This is self-expression, unless you are one of those people who has to go about pleasing others because you are needy, and in that case, you are not being true to yourself are you? It is absolutely fantastic if other people love what you do, but that is not the reality of being a publishing house. It is all about common sense and public interest, and yes, there are specialists that cater for everyone's taste, but you can't forget that popular equals profit? It's a numbers game.

The first of this week's life lessons is to remain true to myself, even if I can't pay for the heating, and also that I should try to write some popular fiction.

Secondly, my life lessons have taught me that that there is a huge amount of snobbery in the literary/artistic world, and it leaves a nasty taste in one's mouth darling!

04:07 GMT | Read comments(0)

Talking about Being a busy author...

Quote

Being a busy author...

Like many other people on the planet, I too have managed to write my first novel. I won't include the other book that I wrote when I was ten, or the poetry that probably aggravated my mother, but I have finally done it and I am giddy and excited and can hardly wait for everything to kick off!

If you are like me, then you quickly realise that it is not enough to simply write your book. You have to research the market, make your work viable for a publisher. You have to edit, edit and re-edit your work until it gleams like a new car, fresh from the showroom and it smells of success. You have to burn the candle at both ends whilst you write five versions of your synopsis, a book blurb and a customisable letter to each person that you have the courage to post off your work to. You have to face the possibility of hundreds of rejection letters from either agents, or publishing companies, and if you can't do that, then you don't really want to publish your work do you?

Just think shark. If you think like a shark that is looking for the next meal you get to win. Sharks are at the top of the food chain. So is writing. If there are no writers, there are no agents, there are no publishers. There seem to be lots of readers though... so all will be well.

Have you noticed that sharks never stop swimming? If a shark stops swimming, it can't breath properly, and it is the same for any budding writer - like all of us. If we stop, we lose momentum, and we can't afford to do that. Like attracks like. Have you noticed that if you are really busy, everyone wants to talk to you, but if you have nothing to do, then nobody telephones?

All of us should not be deterred. We should all get appliances from the dentist to stop us from hurting our teeth when we grind them. It is just the result of being determined, and it must be a disease of the successful person.

Get busy! Be very busy. Find no-time to talk for more than three sentences at a time - the third one being yelled at your friend as you dash to the car because you have something that you must do, and hey ho! There is the agent, and the publisher, and the successful book that you have been incredibly busy producing, refining and making perfect for the rest of us to enjoy!

04:06 GMT | Read comments(0)

Talking about Hanging in the UK

Quote

Hanging in the UK

Today we have all woken up to what they call a hung parliament. I think we were pretty much hung out to dry by the last lot of elected morons, and I am sure that we will all face the same problems over and over again. It is not that I have a dislike for politicians... most of them just seem to be quite horrid. They lie about most things, they keep working class people in difficult situations, they know nothing about living in the real Un-United Kingdom because they tend to stay in their make-believe world of 'just ok mate'. I am really sick and tired of the difficulty that politics cause to people's lives.

There was a television program made this year that highlighted some politicians that had to live in ordinary circumstances. It was called 'The Tower Block of Commons'. That inconsiderate snob from hull really drove me nuts. He thought that ordinary people were, and should stay very much beneath his obvious wonderful state of perfection. He was a wine swilling fat git actually with no compassion, in my humble opinion, and of course I am entitled to that, if nothing else (state benefit joke there). He was the labour guy who was almost participating, but who just let everyone see what a fool he is. He insulted everyone and does not deserve the job of being a politician, earning his sixty grand and then claiming his additional expenses. Why don't they do what the Swedish people do. They have a building filled with single person flats, and the politicians live in them, and they don't claim expenses. Makes sense to me. The conservative woman (note - not lady) was also conceited. She was asked to survive on benefits, but she stuffed £50 in her bra and used that as well. It is hard chummy. I cannot afford anything now, and have had to spend my life savings to survive. I wonder what they would do if they lost all that they had and had to try to again? Would they cry too? Wake up politicians and smell reality. It is the policies and purported government that have created our mismatched society, our poverty and our need. Our difficulties arise out of a lack of knowledge, and a lack of knowledge is born by bad, poor or no education. It really is that simple.

I suppose that it is too much to ask for the world to drop all of it's anger, restrictive belief systems and greed and start coming together to solve the world's poverty, both in education and in financial circumstances. I often wonder when politicians will ever grow up. Perhaps they just suffer from the Peter Pan syndrome, and of course there is a cure, but it will cost us 6 billion to implement this small change, or is it that the 6 billion is just small change when it comes to solving our problems? I ended up turning off most of the political debates because the debatees sounded like irritated children, bickering about who has the best bike in the playground. We are human beings who are continually being battered and abused by some idiots in parliament. They don't give a hoot if you can't pay for heating in the winter. They make disabled people jump through hoops, pun intended, to receive the care that they need, they keep the poor devastatingly poor in all directions and actually, we need to sack them all and start again. They think of us as pathetic, no-minded folk who cannot live properly, but in fact, it is they who are pathetic examples of the human race - and yes! it is a race and we are all running towards the horizon with our arses on fire!

I never thought that I would be quite as angry as I obviously feel about the politics of the world, let alone the UK, but when they put everyone who cannot afford this or that in difficulty after we have given them caretakership of a whole country - well, it really ticks me off.

It is about time that they put down their rattles and started behaving like adults... but somehow, I doubt that it is possible. I had better shut up now because if I think about this much more I am likely to swear!

04:04 GMT | Read comments(0)

01 February

Creating a food masterpiece

I look at some chefs and am truly astonished by their brilliance - then I look at the others, and am thrown into mortal fear for my life! How can they advocate eating so much rubbish?

I have always loved cooking, and these days I tend to try and opt for a healthier lifestyle. Recently I checked out the internet for healthy and low fat/low calorie foods and was bombarded by the most unhealthy food that I have ever read about. People are using canned this and that, with heaven knows how many chemicals. On top of that, there are many sites with people who clearly have no idea how to eat! Do you think this is why half the world is now suffering from chronic obesity? I know that there are many contributing factors, but half the world is killing themselves with the wrong diet.

There are too many issues to write on this in one small blog, but I am truly sickened by the things that ordinary folk like us get pushed at us on the internet and by companies who's prime directive is to sell as much rubbish as they can possibly produce. It is not in the name of progress, but progressing us towards an early grave! I better go and eat oatmeal or something sensible to make me feel as if I can do something about it all.

10:52 GMT | Read comments(0)

31 January

Cold January...

So far this month I have spent day after day doing my physio, and it is probably the only thing that makes me warm!

It is too cold to paint, and too damp for pastel work. Oh dear... I might have to finish editing my book (which is probably the best idea).

Not much to say today, except that I am now going to switch this machine off and go back to my cold little lounge because I have a huge mug of hot chocolate waiting for me. Yum!

08:29 GMT | Read comments(0)

12 January

Gordon Brown's stupid answer

I am sat here in my little house and it is freezing. It rarely gets above 2 degrees. It is by choice.

I have chosen not to put myself into more debt by listening to our pathetic PM,Gordon Brown who states that we should leave our central heating on in the cold. I don't actually have any central heating, simply because I could never afford to put it into this little house. Who will pay for the heating Gordon? Increased fuel usage in the winter months is an obvious thing, but I am in the group of people who are inbetween everything. I am not a pensioner, so I don't qualify for the extra £50 that you have given to them to cope in the winter months.

I think GB must live in a very different world to me and he is only able to see his version of the UK. Today, I read that people are coming into the UK to benefit from our pension scheme. Self employed people in the EU can end up claiming a pension from the UK! They don't even have to have worked here. This is absolutely ridiculous! It is bad enough that people are now coming into the UK by arranging a false marriage for a fee, we now give strangers who have not contributed to our economy a state pension?

We have few places that have a sense of community anymore, and this can be shown by taking notice of the poor elderly couple who died in their house this winter, and no one bothered to find out if they needed anything. I know how they feel. I had to dig a pathway, which was incredibly difficult, whilst able bodied young folk did nothing. I could not get to the local shop easily because it is just a bit too far and my walking stick has no snow spikes! If it had not been for a friend visiting me from the south just before christmas and filling my cupboards with food, and another friend generously donating a food parcel, I just don't know what I would have done. There are people who are much worse off than me. We have not even addressed how the homeless are managing. We should not even have this happening today, but it does and though some people elect to live this way, some do not. How can we call this country Great Britain. There is nothing great about it anymore.

I hope the day will come when politicians stop living in their version of the UK, and they get off their lazy behinds and do the job that they are more than well paid to do. Perhaps if we got rid of all the superfluous politicians, we could use the money saved to buy gritting salt!

Why do we have to endure all this nonsense? Why do we have politicians that live in a make believe world? When will they actually manage to open their eyes to what is happening to the UK? They are supposed to be able to sort things out, but instead we employ them to sit on their behinds in a world that does not reflect how most of us have to live, and they have created it in the first place with poor policy and self-absorbed caretaking.

05:49 GMT | Read comments(0)

28 December

Lilac is a more gentle shade

I am glad that I have finally decided to say exactly what I feel about art. I know that it may not be very interesting, or it may be challenging, or perhaps I am being an opinionated nit, but at anyrate, I am trying to be brave, and appreciate the things that I see.

I have to say, I think that competitions are now overrated, and one of my friends was completely right when he said that it was a bit of a waste of time. At the end of the day, I paint as I choose, and it is a matter of opinion as to whether any of my work is worth merit. I know that I still have volumes to learn, but I am reasonably skilled, and can now improve to where I feel totally happy with everything that I do. I think that I just made a joke too, because as far as I know, most of the artists that I have spoken to agree that we never really reach a point that we can say, ok, that will do for me. If we are honest in our trade, then we can keep on improving and progressing, and learning and of course, having more fun.

I think that next year will be a truly amazing year. I can hardly wait to fiddle about with my paints and amazing little coloured sticks of chalk. One good thing is that I made someone happy this year with my work, which is encouraging, and makes me want to try harder.

My new years' resolution must be, keep going and don't give up trying. I will continue to look at the work of those artists who I am completely and utterly astounded by, and I will probably continue to rant and fizz about the other stuff that I absolutely hate! Human nature is a funny thing. I often wonder how we can ever allow each other an opinion, when it has taken so long to get one of our own!

So, without further waffle, I wish everyone an amazing and prosperous New Year. I hope we all flourish in whatever way we choose.

08:06 GMT | Read comments(0)

19 December

New collaborative teaching?

Recently whilst I have been looking to try and find employment, I noticed that there are many jobs (and many thousands of applicants) requesting artists to go and help in schools. The school system does not teach kids how to paint or create art, or encourage their enthusiasm, or indeed inspire children to do very much it seems. I have been asked to teach art teachers, how to teach art to their students. Yup! I was not honoured by the request, I was appauled at the system.

Why don't schools employ real artists, who are competant artists who are good communicators and who have knowledge of how to correctly use all the popular mediums, in schools today? That way, people who really wanted to grow up and be an artist, or an art tutor could actually get some good tuition, and I would have a day job. Instead, they hire insipid nitwits who cannot really be bothered, and just took art as a subject because they thought it was easy. I actually had a conversation with someone who had passed a degree course, who said exactly that. Oh... it was just easier to get an art degree. What an ingrate! It may be easy to get an art degree chummy, but you paint like noddy on crack!

Artists paint because they love it. We simply love to paint. There is no other answer to why you would be an artist. Being an artist is exciting, but only if you enjoy portraying nature, life or your chosen subject hour after hour after hour and find each brush stroke enthralling. You cannot help yourself, or stop yourself from doing it. I do it all the time, and have been fiddling about with paint one way or another since I was a child. It is a joy. It is what I am, and for other artists, it is just what they are too. It is just the same as if I wanted to be a minister, or a doctor or a soldier. It is just something that you are, and you do it, because to deny it, would be denying your true nature and denying that you have any kind of worth at all. So for those who are pretending to be artists and teaching in schools, shame on you. You are pretending, and damaging all of the children. Big big shame on you.

Being an artist can be very hard emotionally. We have to learn to ignore certain criticism and listen carefully to anything that is really constructive. I am really excited by participating daily in something that amazes me. I can let my imagination free, or I can painstakingly produce something that does nature justice (with a lot of practice!), but I have to remember that it should always be beautiful, and not be a collection of badly drawn lines or poor brush work.

As one who was taught at school quite a long time ago, my art tutor was quite amazing. She monitored all of the kids who were in class, and we were not allowed to speak. If you are talking, you are not concentrating! If you wanted a question answering, she did that. She encouraged you to push beyond your limitation, and I learned from her when I was at school. I was fortunate enough to have a mother that encouraged my imaginative attempts at creating artwork, but what happens these days? Schools are asking for creative practitioners because so many teachers are unable to do this! Our syllabus and systems must be broken.

I recently attended an exhibition, which was truly dreadful. Scrawls on paper that were attempts by adults to produce interesting contemporary drawings of the human form, but which miserably failed. Really badly mounted artwork with cockled paper and corrections that were ridiculously visible. There was artwork that was quite obviously incorrectly and badly glued to a background, and generally a dismally poor collection of ideas were hung on the wall as talent. Thankfully, and before I exploded in quite eloquant expletives, the friend that accompanied me reminded me that it was merely a collection of the judges preferences and that I should perhaps make an allowance for her taste, and of course she was right. In one sense, I could see that some of the really bad work might have been in there to encourage the creator to continue, but if not, then I will accompany the judge to the optitians. If this is how we are developing artistically as a society, then I am truly appauled. One piece of work was literally rows of coloured circles, and was something to do with the national lottery - to me, it was just a statement of boredom and if that was all that the person could be inspired to create. If you cannot think outside of the box, don't blame the rest of us that can. Read more. Do more, and stop making excuses. There are wonderful educational and interesting programs on the telly if you are unfortunate enough to be housebound. Please venture away from the stupid soaps and the rest of the crap that will institutionalise and program you into being NUMB!

The definition of good art is that it portrays emotion, and it embodies beauty. That is about it really. BEAUTY. Something that is uplifting to the human spirit. Quite obviously no one seems to have remembered the last part of my statement. Even if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, do you really think that a few scrawled lines on a cheap piece of sugar paper that resembles a drunken attempt at creating a shopping list is beautiful? It is not contemporary art, it is simply pathetic. I am amazed that people really think that it could be beautiful! People are like sheep these days. So many have forgotten how to think clearly. I get sick of people who pretend to have opinions, when they don't, they just reiterate someone else's view. Not that I am ranting... ahem!

I get sick and tired of seeing utter garbage displayed in galleries and in institutions. Do you really want to hang that crap in your home? Really would you? I doubt it very much, but people are not being honest, which really ticks me off. It seems as if there is no effort put into anything now. We have created a society of lazy gits, who cannot be bothered to really try hard. Instead, we see the creation and infiltration of 'digital art', which is only someone's photo that has been fiddled about with in a software package. Where is the craftsmanship in that then? I have seen beautiful photographs, but it is much easier to photograph something than it is to paint it. That is why we paint! It is a skill. It requires dedication and effort and not some lame excuse that results in a picture of someone with a baked bean can growing out of their head, or something else that is equally inane.

I just had to say it before I become purple and burst!

07:20 GMT | Read comments(0)

18 December

A few spare Christmas wishes...

We have finally got around to Christmas, and nothing really changes. There are still the queues in the shops for groceries - why for a 1 day holiday? Everyone is desperately trying to make it the best Christmas ever, but you have to ask yourself why do this? Who are you trying to please, and don't they love you without all of the farting about anyway? I thought that the spirit of Christmas was about being loving, so stop worrying that you cannot wrap up your gift with the most beautiful paper and a gazillion bows. Love really is enough you know.

I am so grateful that I can sit here in my horrid blue and red checked jimjams, looking like a complete pillock, and I know that my friends love me, and they still love me even when I really cock things up. That is truly precious. I don't have to put on a big party and be the belle of the ball, or buy their love and affection with shiny little baubles. Even though I have some parts that don't work properly, I have learned how to be a real girl because of my friends. Thankfully, the only part of me that is plastic is a dysfunctional ligament and a few teeth. I do have all of my own hair! My friends don't even mind if I topple over from time to time. They simply grin and put me and the damn walking stick straight back upright again. It fills my heart up to know that I am going to be OK, one way or another! This is the part of me that is celebrating, despite the house feeling cold and sometimes it being a lonely place to be.

I wish those who have managed to hurt me badly during the last few years, 'peace in your heart', because they will probably never ask that for themselves.

I wish real love and happiness for all of my friends, and just because I can be idiotically sentimental and idealistic from time to time - peace on earth, and goodwill to all men... wow, I included all men! Can I just er... minus off a pretend apres ski captain somthing ejit? No?... oh.. alright then.

09:24 GMT | Read comments(0)

05 October

Using artists soft pastels

Onward and upward I keep thinking...

I started my more serious artwork in pastel after a visit to see Eric Wilson. (Check out his website for stunning pastels and oil paintings.) He was giving a talk about his work, and it was only about fifty miles from where I live, so I went along, and it was one of the best things that I ever did! The whole experience has taught me to strive harder and keep trying, and I still look at his work for my own personal inspiration. It was at this time that I learned then that pastels are not for the faint hearted, but if you give it a real go, you can achieve all kinds of things for yourself. I was encouraged, and I felt that I had finally found a tiny place on the earth where I could fit in, and just be my whole self, without exception!

I always relish getting stuck into something that is challenging, and I really like the versatility of pastel work, but until recently, I realised that I have only just touched the surface of using this amazing medium, and that there are a huge amount of things that you can do within the 'confines' of being a pastellist.

Just recently, I read a book by Daniel E Greene that I purchased second hand on the web. It is funny that I always seem to have to buy the interesting stuff from the USA. I think that many of our talented traditional artists are hard-pushed to earn a living in the UK, and perhaps I feel unsupported in thinking this, but feel it is true. They don't have time to write many books because every waking moment must be filled with creating a painting that a patron will appreciate, and then it is onto the next and the next so that the bills are paid. Artists can live very harsh lives. You should see the amount of advertisements that there are that request an artist work for free which is a whole nuther blog really. It is very sad. I understand the medium more than a few, but I still have vast amounts of learning to do and there is nothing out there that even touches the rest of it. All the books that I have found here seem a bit too basic for my personal needs and it is only now that I realise in our attempts to understand more fully that we actually write the book with the information in that we wanted in the first place - which then makes me realise I have been quite dim in trying to fathom things out. Gah! I don't have space in my head for things that make no sense.

I recently read the opinion of another artist who also thought that so much art that is produced in the UK is a bit too experimental or self-indulgent for their own personal taste. It made me feel glad to read that someone else felt this way. I much prefer to look at paintings by traditional artists, or those who I see as putting tremendous effort and emotion and skill into their work. My opinion of what constitutes a good work of art does not include those who put a stripe of colour across the middle of some sort of substrate in an insane moment of personal creation, or those who hang bits of paper on strings and who grasp at the title of installation to give their work proper meaning. Bricks placed in a fashion on the floor are also included in my category of hopeless too, even if those who like to prattle on about the particular importance of such artwork persistantly push me to the bottom of the highly successful pile. The pile of bricks may have invited controversy, or been the spark at the start of a bickering match, but it is really not art. It is a consequence of an action to start an argument, therefore it is a catalyst and not an artwork. Too logical? I bet our local brickies could do a much better job of said brick-pile...

Suffice it to say, even though inspired to look further after reading Mr Greene's book, I could not afford to buy Mr Greene's CDs, which retail around $70 each and there are half a dozen of these, but I would if I could. His book did not tell me to pick up this colour and strike it there to get so and so an effect, which is what most of the 'how-to' books seem to do these days, but instead spoke of how he struggled with this particular surface, or why he decided to pick this colour and so on. Very interesting to me. I had lots of fun, and then decided to keep trying because there is such a long way to go to achieving any kind of mastery with these tricky little sticks of colour.

There are many grounds that are great for pastel work, and your choice is only determined by your budget and the way that you work. Nothing beats making your own boards and heading out plein air for some pastel sketching - dry weather permitting. Though having said that, I have worked in wet conditions, and I have even steamed my pastel work, as Degas used to do, just for the fun of seeing a different texture. It is all a lot of fun that we can all enjoy. I have struggled enormously with marble dust boards, but that is half of the journey to understanding what I am trying to do. I finally felt good about creating some textured pastel landscapes, and can hardly wait to get going on some more of these. They look quite different from anything else that I have managed to produce. They are certainly miles away from my earlier, overworked portraits.

So besides the marble dust mini revelation, other favourite pastel boards include Sennelier or the Royal something or other that they used to sell at Heaton Coopers. I must be having another senior moment because I cannot remember the name. I like the Sennelier card for wildlife pastel work because it has a high tooth and I can get lots of detail in, should I need to complete a work of this nature. (Oh crickey... there are bad puns everywhere!)

Being heavy handed, I prefer something that is archivally correct, and that will withstand my own abrasive strokes. I buy acid free boards, and either use them as a backing board by attaching my chosen paper or card to them, or I use them as a board and prepare them using the marble dust method (gesso if neccessary, acrylic paint, and marble dust), provided that they are thick enough for use. I use different types of paper for different purposes with pastels - watercolour paper glued (archivally of course) to a board that I then tone with watercolours or acrylic paint. I rarely use anything that shows a repetative pattern in the surface, like the recent Daler Rowney Murano which has sort of a checked pattern in the grain (really great for decent sketches though), and I really hate the Rowney pastel paper that has lines right through it. I use chalk pastels (the cheaper variety that are a bit horrid to use) for sketching ideas out, and I use the very cheap and cheerful lining paper from the DIY store as well as whatever I can get or afford. As I am only putting my ideas into a more concrete form, why use more expensive drawing paper?

I also read recently on "Practical Painting.com" that;

"Fixative is not so good as the final "fix" to your work. It dulls the color you worked so hard to achieve and destroys the reflective qualities the manufactures worked so hard to impart in their product."

which is a bit misleading. The rest of the information on the site is interesting and useful. In truth, you cannot achieve reflective quality with something that is essentially, chalk with colour added and a binder to hold it all together. It cannot reflect the light in this way by simple product design. Oil paintings do create this effect by means of thin layers of paint and a glazing technique. You see through the layers because the paint and the medium are transparent, so optically, the light is reflected back through the layers, but if you have nothing that light can travel through - chalk for example, then it will not reflect the light in that way, it merely bounces off the surface because it has no glazing medium to use as a light reflecting agent. It is ridiculous also to try and defend this statement by saying that scumbling a colour across another one will produce a light-reflective effect. Duh! There needs to be a medium that lends itself to the pigment becoming transparent. Think of looking through stained glass or varnish and it might make more sense. Pastels are generally made from chalk, china clay, gum tragacanth and pigment. Ever been able to see through a brick?

Fixative is a very weak solution of varnish. Fixative merely extends the tooth, hold pastel onto your paper and it can change the shade, usually darken or 'spot' your work, especially if the nozel on your spray can or diffuser is clogged. It is better to use it in the layers that build up your painting, or to fix additional marble dust that is applied during the work to the surface of the paper or board that you are using. You can also overwork a piece by blending all the pastel too much, but who is to say that was not your intention in the first place?

Don't be discouraged by thinking you are getting it all wrong by not doing this or that either! Enjoy your artwork. Experiment and try not to be afraid of making mistakes. It does not hurt you to make a real hash of something... the ego perhaps, but nothing else, unless your budget is really stretched. If this is the case, then you will have to invest one sheet of paper for experiments on, so you can become used to different ways of using the pastel and expressing yourself. Oh and by the way, please don't use hairspray as a fixative. The additives in hairspray can do all kinds of damage to your work, should you wish to keep it for a while.

The only time you should give your technique and tools great consideration is to think of the archival quality of your work. Are you selling work that is likely to become a family heirloom? If you are, then you need to use the right materials - ie PH free and ensure that your finished artwork is sealed in its frame. Pastel works last just as long as an oil painting if they are created with the right materials and framed correctly. You can still see paintings by Degas, Da Vinci and Renoir that are just lovely!

There are lots of internet sites out there, or books to read and interesting people to contact who are willing to give you the right information about using pastels and their experiences of it, so get digging!

Edgar Degas : L'Etoile 1876-77

Just lovely!

Guess I have waffled enough today... must get out more!

07:20 GMT | Read comments(0)

04 September

PC Madness!

For the last week, I have battled with the software on my pc and finally got things moving, which is more than can be said for me. I may be naive, but I still struggle to understand why people invest time in inventing malware. Why do some people have such poor character that they spend their time working out ways to hurt lots of people at the same time, delaying being able to complete important paperwork, costing them money in broken pc's etc etc? I don't think I will ever understand.

I suppose it is onward and upward if I can keep going.

PS - Thanks to everyone who has been supporting during my recent convalescence. I don't know what I would do without friends.

09:53 GMT | Read comments(0)

15 August

To fake or not to fake

I was looking at what was described as a painting only to discover that it had not been painted at all, but was a photograph that was altered digitally with electronic versions of a paint brush. How is that really regarded as a painting? Surely this is taking the pee?!

I have seen some amazing paintings that have actually been produced by a person with a selection of real paint brushes and paint and I find it increasingly frustrating to see digitised and manipulated works of art listed as paintings when they are clearly not painted at all. The artist may have talent with a pc/software, but this is not what painting is. Can we actually call it what it is please? A computerised and digitally manipulated photograph, or some such thing? Seems simple enough to me.

Then there is the problem of those on the web though who purportedly paint oil paintings by hand, but in actual fact, they have the artwork printed onto canvas and then sort of add oil paint. Ridiculous, but people buy it and they don't know the difference. No wonder some of us end up getting a hard time because of these con-style-artists.

On top of this, you get the guys calling themselves 'master portrait artists', but in my very humble opinion, they seem to fail miserably at mastering their brushes and paint. I saw a chap in Canada do this. He advertises himself as a master artist, but the work does not reflect something so beautiful that is easily created by an artist of this calibre. Try looking at Daniel Green, Marvin Mattleson etc, and you can see the difference immediately.

oh well... another day

03:28 GMT | Read comments(0)

05 August

Opinionated musings...

Today, I found myself musing about how art actually makes it into the world. As far as I am concerned, it is a revelation to be allowed free spirited practice. So often, we are not allowed our opinions, and this can be problematic as these views extend into all that we do as artists.

I spoke to a gentleman recently, who informed me that I must keep my opinionated critique to myself, and how dare I think that I was perfect and could produce perfect work! I can't as it happens. As he was talking over me, he failed to hear me state that I believe in any given moment, we can be happy and satisfyed with what we do, and that in itself is our version of perfection. Not exactly rocket science here. I had to state it twice to make sure that he understood that my crumpled little map did not have a listed A road to Attica, but I know that I must try to get there somehow.

I really am at the wrong side of thousands of miles away from any kind of perfect, but I do believe that we are all capable of appreciating our work at the time that we create it, and we always have room for improvement. We can bring joy, upliftment and beauty into the world at any given moment, and we all need to be allowed to express this in a tangible form for the world to see. Artists can wear their hearts on their sleeves, and they paint them how they wish to be seen I suppose.

In truth, I see much art that is lazy and to me it lacks so much beauty because there seems to be no emotion in it. There has been no effort in producing such work. I also see lots of art where people have been denied any assistance and there is a desperate struggle to express the inner self. As artists, surely it is up to us to share our experiences and spread more of this knowledge and beauty into the world? Art should not be selfishly employed.

Art is in the moment. Art is freedom of speach. Art is the happy place that I find myself in, when in the remotest space of my head there is too much to deal with and art is in the front of my mind all of the time because I live there. Most artists who are passionate about their work and strive for their version of perfection, live their lives passionately between the brush strokes in each of their works. This is being an artist, and sometimes, our passion for art outshines our capacity to be diplomatic.

06:29 GMT | Read comments(0)

4th September

Hello Friends

New worktop delivered and now the horrid job of installation... I cannot even lift it up to saw out the holes for the sink... oh dear! I might be in a bit of trouble with this... hope it does not go in wonky.

It is times like these that I wish I had some help.

I had to take out the complaining... I really hate that. I don't like the negative feeling that it brings with it, even when you do feel that there is some sort of justice in having a rant. Oh well... keep going!

Belt sanders and all things manly!...

I went along to the local hardware store and bought myself a belt sander. It was not quite as funny as the time that I hired a jack-hammer to lift the tiles on the kitchen floor.... but it comes a close second.

I have got the hang of it now, and am managing to sand a few bumpy bits of wood straight. Now I have a repaired bathroom floor that is easy to maintain (the most important part). A decent vinyl floor might not be as nice as a fancy bit of travertine, but if I had layed tiles, the floor would have probably ended up falling through the kitchen ceiling. Oh, the joy of living in an old house!

The merchants are a week late delivering my worktop, but I can finally return to painting by the 18th if I can fit things quickly. Thank goodness for power tools!

16th July

Hello friends

Well I am back from the south coast and in the middle of trying to load my camcorder to finish the Bridlington beauties painting vid. What a palava... I have to convert the files from one sort to another, and then make the 'movie' and my system keeps crashing. It is not a job that is a happy little thing to do. I keep saying things like 'happy little painting'...'happy little this or that', so maybe Bob Ross is looking down on me from where he is at. If he is, I could do with some help!

I remember watching Bob Ross on TV after I lost my job and I was injured. I was unable to do anything much except feel sorry for myself. I could not get a job and was struggling with all kinds of stuff, and there was Bob, painting happy little trees and mountains on the telly. It helped me really. I enjoyed watching him paint, and more than that, I really enjoyed that he helped me to see that I could try too. I knew that I could, but lacked the confidence to try harder, and he gave me that back. Then my friend Eric gave me tons of confidence when he inspired me to use soft pastels. I was frightened to death of them! I just feel thankful that things are turning out the way that they are.

I will be painting swans for the swannery, and hoping that my efforts are good enough to sell in their shop. I shall be painting more boats because it is a favourite subject of mine. I really love those working boats. They have such jolly little characters, bobbing up and down in the water. I think that they are just great, so I want to paint happy pictures of them all.

I am submitting some work for the Sefton open competition, and though panicking a bit, I really hope that I do well. Most artists know what it is like to live on a shoe string, and I think that I ate mine up last month!, so the winnings... (oh please God!), would save me from a fate worse than death... office work!!!! arghhhhhh!!!!

Please God... let me win all that I can, and I won't ask for a bicycle for Christmas! Honestly, and keep us all safe and smiling, Amen.

26th June

Hello friends

Today, I witnessed an horrific attack by a young man upon another, in the middle of a public road.

A car had swerved across the head of a junction onto a main road and four men started arguing. Suddenly, the smaller guy who had been dragged out of the car rushed around to the boot and grabbed a crow bar. He ran after the man and beat him until they both ended up on the floor. I have no idea what happened to the man who was beaten, because I did not see him get back up. There were four of them all fighting in a lump, even if two had thought to try and stop it.

Not one of the people that were around, except silly old me, shouted at them to stop or raised any alarm. They just stood and perhaps watched in fear of the road rage being turned in their direction.

I was terrified because I was the one who was shouting at them to 'stop-it!' and they might thump me with that big black crowbar. I became very frightened, and I also thought that if people were so enraged as to try and kill each other, would they really take any notice of someone shouting stop?

A crowd drew from the shops along the road, but still, no-one was stopping anything, and I had foolishly left my mobile phone at home. I was shouting at all the people for someone to call the police, but people seemed more interested in watching a nasty fight that involved a heavy bar.

The road became blocked with people and cars, and I was unable to stop anything, or help anyone and no-one wanted to hear me shouting my head off.

The blunt instrument seems to be the intellect of mankind.

I guess that I have not finished shouting, but it still feels as if I am silenced by fear, and not just my own. What on earth are we (mankind) doing?

23rd May

I don't think that it is naive of me to believe that we all have the capacity to be loving human beings.

It is very sad that such a loving and trusting animal can be treated so badly by human beings. The elephant in the video below was rescued from abuse in Burma. It poses all kinds of questions...

I wonder how long it took the trainers to teach or force the elephant to do this, and wonder what methods they used to achieve this 'trick'? I must admit that I cried thinking about all of the abuse that the poor elephant went through before it was rescued and also when I watched how carefully the elephant was holding the tiny brush, and how it wavered before pressing it against the paper, almost as if short sight was also something that the poor elephant had to come to terms with in painting the picture.

Whilst I was in awe of the elephant and how it managed to recreate a picture of another elephant, I found it hard to understand that people like being entertained by things like this. I would have preferred to see the rescued animal returned to its natural environment if possible, and if not, just go about normal ellie business in a safe environment. Surely we can do better?

Well, what was a few grey blobs, and now a blurry photograph, are progressing nicely. I still have quite a bit of work to do. The work is called "Ellie's bluff". When humans get too close to elephants, they often throw up dust and leaves as a warning that you are too close. I have lots of work to do before I get to powder her nose.

There is also a huge amount of work to do with the rhino, but I love the idea of a big old boy like this being free on my canvas, and am enjoying the challenge of it all. I met some rhino recently, and they were very obliging with the photographic opportunity, so thank you boys. Here's hoping that the painting turns out well.

Please check back for futher updates...

15th May

I love elephants. I was lucky enough to visit Sri Lanka and the elephant sanctuary that they have there a while ago, and I have also helped out bathing them at one of the places on the island where people are starting to realise that these wonderful animals need our help to survive the difficulties that we are subjecting them to in their own environment. They are against poaching and the butchery that goes on when the land that elephants are usually used to grazing falls into the hands of developers etc.

I am all too often staggered by examples of man's inhumanity, stupidity and greed. I would have thought by now that we have the intelligence as a whole, to live successfully side by side and in friendship with each other and with all of nature, but some people just cannot do it.

First Entry and happy birthday to me! 28th April 2008!

There will be information about art after I have indulged myself for my birthday. Sometimes I waffle a bit, but my waffle is in the interest of learning and sharing experiences. Honestly!

Photograph - The Battle of the Little Big Horn - re-enactment.

I took this photograph, with kind permission, when I was travelling around the US, at a re-enactment of the battle. This particular re-enactment was not at the actual site of the battle either, but I think that many Native Americans wish that the truth were told about actual events, so it is played out each year for tourists by different nations. Sometimes, the story is right and sometimes other historical events are tagged into the play on horseback, for the entertainment of tourists.

Thankfully, my Native American friends know that I don't do tourist tours comfortably at all. I have all kinds of experience of travelling uncomfortably with bunches of tourists, and that is 'a whole other can of worms' (read with a strong southern statesish accent for fun)!

For a long time, I have been interested in North American history, so naturally, I spent some time looking into and visiting some of the battle sites.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn—also known as Custer's Last Stand, was called the Battle of the Greasy Grass by the Lakota people. It was an armed engagement between a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne combined force and the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army on the 25th and 26th of June 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in the eastern Montana Territory.

The battle was the most famous action of the Indian Wars, and was a victory for the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, led by Sitting Bull. A sizeable force of U.S. cavalry commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer was defeated and Custer himself was killed in the engagement along with two of his brothers.

It was, however, not the highest infliction of casualties by Native Americans against U.S. forces, which occurred in the 1791 Battle of the Wabash.

When I visited the battlefield, the place felt as if it was silent, despite there being visitors around me. It was a strange day. I met a man who gave me the photograph that he had taken of some of the survivors of the battle many years earlier. We spoke about photography, history and the day, and I clutched the precious little photograph in my hand after I had shaken his hand and thanked him.

I watched the people milling around, and I still wonder if any of the 'tourists' ever really felt the hole that there seemed to be.

It was a very difficult trip for me to make that year for all kinds of personal reasons, but I am glad that I travelled to see for myself, and glad that my heart felt better for the journey.

Today, I had the most amazing day, filled with love and laughter.

Thanks to all of my friends for your lovely gifts, kind thoughts, help and appreciation.

Jo-Anne Clarke, UK Artist

Portraits, wildlife, contemporary works Commissions accepted