A birthday party outfit, complete with matching outfits...

cracking drunken binge, scars on my nose to prove it...

tired

on the eve of a trip to uk, desperately sending emails to cover my erse while im gone, wondering when I will actually get to paint in the studio, thinking what I might need from blighty, panicking about a meeting with the boss, feeling creative, emotional and weak...

some good ska to listen to is easing the pain...

_ticking over_

Smile! Entered this into the Sovereign Asian Art prize, just as whimsically as I entered the BP at the National, London. Made it to the Shortlist there, so maybe I have a chance here...

There are listeners, after all...

I am very pleased to report that it is not just the spammers and viagra sellers who visit the blog... although it is only them who bother to comment...

Thanks for listening, Aunty June. Your support is an inspiration, even from all the way over there!

Proverbs (new edition)

'Even a hare will bite when it is cornered'

Taken from an image shot in Hanshoi Road, Shanghai

Snowing again

Not the ethereal fluffy snowball fodder, no this time, in the warm spring air of shanghai it is being snowed under that concerns me. And this is only a good thing. I have so much on the go, as does everyone else in the household, the family, that I am sometimes not sure if I can keep all the plates spinning. But just like having plenty of money in the bank, having lots on gives yu a certain swagge, a confidence that inspires faith in others and brings more opportunity your ay. Just like when the banks offer you credit cards and loans when you least need them, work and projects come rolling through the door when you are up to your eyeballs.

As a bit of a test, I have just retreated to the studio to crack on with a big 2m x 1m full length portrait of a little boy from one of the charity projects with which I am involved. Its unusual for me to just paint a kiddie with no background work or underlying project on which to hang the painting, but it is out of a need for sanity and confidence that i retreat to this painting, its not part of any particular project. Its part of a little introspective searching as I say to myself 'its all very well having all these projects on the go, but can you even paint any more. The marketing schpiel, confidence and swagger feel like they have become the reality, not the art itself. Its a bit like switching on the telly and watching the adverts, not the programmes that accompany them. By getting back to the brushes I am at least slaying the 'hot air' demon of talk and bullshit about art, and actually getting back to nuts and bolts of looking, drawing, creating...