NewAgeTraveller

I am very excited about a forthcoming exhibition I am taking part in, at a music festival in the Devon countryside at the end of July. It is called KOZFEST and, from what I've heard, is a lot like the old festivals that happened in England throughout the 1970's and 80's. Of course, festivals have never been more widespread and popular than they are now. They are happening every weekend up and down the land and are attracting enormous numbers of people. However, compared to the old festivals, they are shit! Heavily commercialised and dominated by big business they are a long, long way removed from the anarchic hedonism that made gatherings like Stonehenge Free Festival and Treworgey so incredible.

I have been invited by the organisers of Kozfest 2018 to exhibit some of my artwork that relates to those great festivals, a lot of which is here on DeviantArt. I have a traditional canvas marquee all to myself on Saturday 28th July and hope to show about 45 different paintings and drawings. There has been a lot to sort out, getting framing done, having some prints made in order to sell on the day, a big banner to go on the outside of the marquee saying "exhibition", and having business cards printed. Still got to find a good place to buy good quality bubble wrap to safely protect the framed pictures whilst in transit. Hard work but hopefully it will be worth it!





 

I am very pleased to announce an exhibition featuring a selection of recent oil paintings created using palette knives, and earlier acrylic portraits and landscapes, starting Friday 24th February, and ending Friday 17th March 2017. The venue is Noble Art Supplies, Salisbury, Wiltshire UK. Any deviants living in England, or further afield who don't mind hopping on a plane, are very welcome to attend!

Where I live, in Salisbury, UK, we were blessed with the most wonderful shop selling art materials, the Complete Artist. It had been open as long as I could remember, and occupied a picturesque building next to a river in one of the more attractive parts of town. When I started at Art College in 1980 as an eager young student I bought all my supplies there, and then continued as a loyal customer over the intervening years. I struck up a great relationship with Martin, the owner, and it was easy to think that nothing would ever change, that Martin and the Complete Artist would last for ever.

The storm clouds had begun to gather though, not that I had noticed, I thought everything was fine, but Martin was unwell and had a bit of time off away from the shop while he recovered from his illness. The day to day running of the business was entrusted to Sharon, his long term employee, and everything carried on as before. Then Martin returned to work and chatting with him was horrified to discover just how serious his illness had been. He was taking things easier, only coming in to work for a couple of days a week, Sharon running things the rest of the time. Life carried on sweetly, the sun shone, life was great.... and then...... Martin died. What a devastating blow this was. Even now, several years later, I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I type this. What a lovely man he was, gentle and kind, a beautiful person.... (I've just had to stop for a minute and let the feelings of deep sadness pass).

What would happen next? The shop continued, all seemed the same, Sharon was still there, and Liz, but now there was a new face, Martin's daughter. She had taken over the running of the store. The months passed by, until about 11 months, maybe a year, after Martin passed away, and the time arrived I never thought could happen. The Complete Artist was closing down. Signs went up, everything half price. Over the next couple of weeks  the shelves emptied, the stock dwindled, what had been an Alladin's cave, piled high to the rafters with brushes, tubes of paint, canvasses, paper, sketchbooks, everything, was quickly becoming a void, a bare, unloved space. And then.... Gone altogether. the window and door boarded up, the old signwriting beginning to peel and fade. Then graffiti started appearing on the walls, it was so sad to see this proud shop like this, abandoned and unloved.

What now for me? Well, there's Jackson's Art Supplies, a big place up in London, that stock everything, far more than Martin's shop ever could, with discounted prices and an efficient mail order service. But there was one thing Jacksons could never supply and that was the feel good, heart warming experience of going into the old shop, seeing the smiling faces, having a natter.... that personal service I took for granted. For two years since the shop closed I have ordered masses of equipment over the phone, and never had a problem, but there was that warmth missing. For all Jackson's efficiency it is too corporate, too cold, too big business. But yesterday evening, as I walked through the rain sodden streets of Salisbury, who should I bump into but Sharon? And she told me the most uplifting, happy news, that she is opening a new Art Store! Oh, what gladness this news brings to me! Two years of dipping my toe into the cold water of big business has proved to me the importance of small, independent art shops. How I hope it all works out for Sharon and the creative community of Salisbury and South Wiltshire. How I hope it's a great success for her and the people who have shown the faith to get this off the ground. And I implore anyone reading this who lives anywhere near this neck of the woods to support the new shop and resist the big art businesses who could drive small independent shops like Sharon's out of existence.

Something I've always tried to do is visit as many art exhibitions as I can. Whether local artists in the town library, or big, internationally important, exhibitions in London or other major cities, the more I can see the better! Since the Giorgio De Chirico show at the Tate Gallery in 1983, I've managed to attend some great ones; El Greco at the National Gallery, David Hockney at the Royal Academy, The Group of Seven at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. In 2002 it was Paul Klee at the Hayward Gallery on London's Southbank, and yesterday, 11 years later, a second Paul Klee exhibition, this time at Tate Modern. 

I suppose I'm a bit unrealistic hoping there won't be too many people in attendance, there's always the dream that the gallery will be empty and I can spend long minutes gazing at each artwork, but sadly it was swarming with people and the various rooms were packed! Crowds gathered around the paintings and it was all a bit hectic and slightly frustrating! But seeing Klee's incomparable work again was a joy! The colours were so much more vivid and mind blowing than they appear in books or on screen, and I came out feeling not only overwhelmed by it all but also the sense of how my own work is so bland and uninspired in comparison! Maybe we all should visit these shows, if only to stop ourselves getting inflated ideas about our own importance! They have much to teach us artists, these great names from the past!   

Applications have to be in by the end of May to be a part of the Salisbury Art Trail, a 10 day event of Open Studios, Galleries and exhibitions in Salisbury and surrounding area. The trail is held every 2 years and every time it happens I'm undecided whether to get involved. On the one hand, it's a chance to welcome the public into my studio at the end of the garden, show my work and, who knows, maybe sell one or two! On the other, I can imagine it being a terrible nuisance, with multitudes of visitors tramping up and down the garden path, I could just imagine getting well cheesed off with it after a couple of days! Ultimately my studio is a quiet retreat from the world, a creative sanctuary, and the thought of the silence being shattered doesn't appeal! So once again I decline to get involved! Maybe 2015.... but don't hold your breath!