This is the fourth piece of art I’ve made so far in 2018 (some of the other new pieces will appear on the blog soon). The adapted dollar bill, made using Posca paint pens and Pebeo silver acrylic paint, emerged a few weeks ago and the backdrop was made today. I’ve decided to make this the first free art drop of 2018, so if you happen to live in the Wallington/Carshalton area – keep an eye out for it this weekend. Happy New Year!
Here’s the art with the dollar bill pressed and fixed into place – looks a bit tidier now. I liked making this – I may well do a series of these.
The Brook is a lovely community arts venue, bar and restaurant, owned by Andy and Thea Brook. As a family we started visiting The Brook about two and a half years ago. Since then Keira has had a birthday party there, I’ve hidden free art there several times, and we’ve enjoyed food, drink and music more times than I can remember.
On June 1st 2017 – having dithered over the idea of performing live there for several weeks, I delivered my first faltering open mic night performance at The Brook. I survived week one, and came back again, and again, and again, having resolved to persist, and over time, to experiment with an ever expanding body of songs.
Since that first performance in June, there have been 32 open mic nights, and I’ve only missed four of them. Despite being a nervous performer, I’ve persisted with this project largely because of the welcoming atmosphere, nurtured by everyone in the room, and led chiefly by Dan Smith. Dan takes care of sound and set up – and is a master cajon player, regularly providing the beats for numerous acts. The crowd offers encouragement, any criticism is left to the performer. As the weeks progressed I noticed I became more accepting of this encouragement and began to use it as building blocks for more adventurous work.
Life has been pretty up and down (in some ways much more down than up) over the past year or so, and open mic night has served me well as a safe and encouraging place, sometimes just to relax, other times to go nuts. I’ve enjoyed the experience enormously, and while I felt sad when hearing the news of the closure – I quickly decided to make the most of the time left, rather than mourn the passing of something I’ve grown to love.
On December 28th 2017, I and many others, played there for one last time. After serving the local community for five years, The Brook in Wallington closes its doors tonight (Dec 31st) – before reopening in Hackney in January 2018.
This has been an excellent adventure. I’ve grown to enjoy performing, I’ve made some good friends and listened to lots of amazing live music, thanks everyone. This chapter now closes, and we are looking forward to what promises to be one hell of a New Year’s Eve party.
Photo above by Peter Ball
Footnote: Songs I can Remember Playing.
When I Grow Up* : Tim Minchin
Where In The Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush* : Reverend Horton Heat
Bankrobber *: The Clash
Wreck Of The Old 97* : G B Grayson, Henry Whitter
I Met A Man : Various Artists
Midnight Special* : Traditional (I played guitar, accompanying Keira)
Royals : Lorde (I played guitar, accompanying Keira
Sound of The Suburbs : The Members
Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s Flavour : Lonnie Donegan
Watching The Detectives* : Elvis Costello
Speed of The Sound of Loneliness : John Prine
Pretty in Pink : Psychedelic Furs
Green Green Grass of Home : Curly Putman
City of New Orleans* : Steve Goodman
Good Year For The Roses* : Jerry Chesnut
Down In The Tube Station : Paul Weller
Bela Lugosi’s Dead : Bauhaus
Top Of The Pops : The Rezillos
Wallington Prison Blues* : Johnny Cash
Highway To Hell : Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott
It’s A Long Way To The Top : Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott
Pablo Picasso : Writer Unknown (I played as guest guitarist on this one)
Disco Man : The Damned
Dozen Girls : The Damned
Sound of The Suburbs : The Members
Peter Pumpkinhead : Xtc
Ever Fallen In Love : The Buzzcocks
Wait For The Blackout : The Damned
There Ain’t No Sanity Clause : The Damned
White Christmas : Irving Berlin
Sign Of The Times : Harry Styles and others (I played guitar, accompanying Keira)
Stay Free : The Clash
* indicates a song played on multiple separate occasions over the seven month period.
A friend was in touch several weeks ago asking if I would accept a commission to paint two members of his family. I’m not known for my skills as a portrait artist – and when my friend Chris gave me some more details about what he was looking for, I decided to go ahead and accept the challenge. The painting is to be a gift, and the two family members are cats. Black cats.
Chris and I exchanged a few notes about my approach to the work – and we agreed this should not be a portrait in the traditional sense. Chris gave me a sense of the personalities of the two cats, and it was over to me. I spent ages thinking about how to represent these two family members in an appropriate way, something which would both resonate for Chris and Paula, for it is she who will receive the gift, and be a satisfying challenge for me as the artist.
The more I thought – the more my nerves heightened. Chair and Paula love these cats, what if I fail to capture a good likeness? Portraiture is a really tough art form, but I kept plotting, until my ideas formed into something I felt would work. I decided the best way to represent the cats was to try and let their personalities show through, and in order to do this – the cats themselves needed to be largely invisible. Here’s what I came up with.
Chris and I arranged to meet so I could show him the work in real life. I was nervous heading for our rendezvous…what if he doesn’t like the work? On my way to the meeting I stopped off to hand over some watercolour postcards to someone in my network and I showed them the painting. ‘If he doesn’t want it – come back here and I’ll buy it off you’. OK – I’ve captured something here, that feedback settled my nerves a little. I went on to see Chris, and I’m pleased to say the picture has been signed, framed, and handed over.
I’m truly grateful to Chris for asking me to do this. It was a challenge and it was fun, and the end result really works. It’s great to see what can be done in a supportive environment when working with a willingness to try something new.
